Rare friends
by doctor chocolate thunder
Summary: The ORI have been defeated and Atlantis is in fast action on mars. Earth is aware of the stargate now and has begun to embrace its roll. Meanwhile in Pegasus New Lantea is also in full swing fighting the Wraith, But daniel and SG-1 have a new mission. A mission that could change the pegasus galaxy and the whole universe. both stargates bsg and The matrix will get time here
1. Chapter 1: strange beginings

**A PROMISING START**

In a strange way this day was like many others for Jack O'Neill. The day started like any other. Jack drank his Coffee and then received his briefing on all ongoing operations on earth and within the Sol system. As head of home world Command General O'Neill was a busy man. He had only recently been able to move back to Colorado now that he had moved home world command to what was formerly NORAD. Now that the IOA was finally gone and the United Nations had been given its rightful responsibility of being in charge of all off world operations Jack had been put in charge of all home world security and over all command of all U.N. military assets (they were calling it Tauri force command). He was free to put his headquarters wherever he wanted. And the old closed down NORAD would do perfectly. Now of course the SGC was still alive and well as Jack was now just a few floors above it.

Joining the controlled chaos that was Stargate Command Jack made his way to the gate room. Much of what jack remembered about the place had changed with disclosure. Now that the world new about the greater Galaxy and their place in it budgets had all but disappeared and they could make the changes they had needed, like the expansion of the ante rooms around the gate and the addition of a rather large vehicle prep and launch facility. They had actually moved the gate to the side so that it was edge on towards the gate dialing and computer room. No more dodging weapons fire coming through the gate. Strolling into the Gate room jack was reminded of all of this as he stopped to stand next to Colonel Mitchel head of SG-1. "Good morning general" said Cam. "How are you this morning Cam? Which planet are we clearing of ORI today?" the general asked curiously. "It should be the last of the ORI from Orban." Mitchell said as the last two of the new up gunned Stryker's sped through the gate room and into the gate. "Have you seen the new strikers in action yet ?" Mitchell inquired. "No, although I hear the new plasma guns are something to see" "yes sir they are." Mitchell said somewhat quickly to tone down the chatting he knew the general was not always fond of.

They watched quietly for a few more minutes as the last of the attacking force moved through the room and the gate closed behind them. General Carter entered the room shortly after the gate closed and quietly joined the group coffee in her hand as well. "They should be ready with the new M1's in the next few weeks. If you like those Stryker's you haven't seen anything yet Sir" carter said playfully to her superior. "Carter I didn't even know you were here. I just assumed that you would already be on Atlantis." O'Neil said suprisedly as he turned around to face his longtime friend. "Daniels information is exciting sir but I had some space com matters to attend to yesterday and just thought an evening at home would be nice. Glad to see the last bits of Home world command are now finished above us?" carter inquired. "Well I figured since I can't get Harriman I might as well get as close to him as I can." O'Neil added jokingly. "I am still not sure how this place would function without him." Cam added. The conversation ended abruptly as the event horizon of earths gate came to life and Walters voice came over the loud speaker "Thank you for the compliment sir's and they are ready for you on Atlantis." "Thanks Walter, see you in a bit." General O'Neil said as he made his way up the ramp with his subordinates in tow on their way to Atlantis.

Atlantis

Stepping through the Gate into Atlantis is was hard to miss the beauty of the place, with its stained glass windows and graceful steal architecture. Jack was surprised by how brown the sky was outside. It was so brown outside Jack could barely see the piers of the city where the Dock yards were in full tilt building ships as fast as they could throw three pieces of trinium together. "Did they just land another asteroid?" Jack asked Carter. "Yes sir, this one makes the sixth this week. They say they may have enough of a mass of oxygen in the next year to jump start the life cycle's here on Mars. It's Hard to imagine sir but we could have two habitable planets in the Sol system within the next twenty years," Replied carter. "Who knows how long it will last though since the planet can't really hold on to its atmosphere?" Cam added. "I have a friend who is working on that. Even if we can't restart the core of the planet at least we can seed enough stuff here to keep an atmosphere for a few million years. If we haven't figured out the problem by then we don't deserve the planet." "Too much information Carter," Jack playfully quipped. "Follow me Gentlemen and we can get the briefing started."

As they made their way to the conference room Jack was glad to see that the rest of SG-1 was already there and ready to go. He was anxious to hear about this new planet Daniel thought he had found. Jack was a bit baited the other night when he and Daniel had met for beer and pizza. Daniel had been so excited he had blurted out the words Kobol and possible city ships before Jack had shushed him. Now that the whole world knew about the Stargate and SG-1's missions there was a crazy thirst for information so operational security had become rather difficult. He had admonished Daniel and reminded him that they were still dealing with classified information even if the program wasn't secret they still didn't need to talk openly about all of it. Daniel agreed and so Jack had to wait until the briefing to find out more.

Sitting down Jack did not expect to see so many people at the table. From his right were Vala Maldoran, Lt. Hailey, Col. Mitchell, Gen. Carter (in charge of space command or everything in the milky way), Col. Caldwell (commander of the enterprise), Col. Chekov (commander of the odyssey), Commodore Missen(commander of the Normandy), and several assorted marine and army officers that the general did not know. "Sir I took the liberty of asking command to bring some of the various commanders that we may need for this mission if you should decide to proceed" said Carter nervously. "No problem, I trust you. The ships commanders I know but some of you I don't know. Please introduce yourselves," said O'Neill. In order the officers stood "major Hanley sir, commanding the third brigade second ACR." Next stood a tall woman with bleach blonde hair who while thin in stature carried an air of power "Major Caprice Fourth battalion Tenth mountain division" she said quickly to no one in particular. "Weren't you guys the last ones out of Afghanistan?" asked General O'Neill. "Yes sir, It would seem no one wanted to fight once they realized that there fight didn't really matter anymore." Maj. Caprice said quickly, as the room remained silent for a second after her comment. Next stood a stocky midsized serious looking man. "Major Young sir, third battalion 75th ranger regiment" he said with as little emotion as possible. Lastly another man probably six inches shorter than the rest but making up for it with an obvious aura of command. "Colonel Patton sir, third red horse squadron". He said with some pride. "Thank you all for being here. And I am glad to meet you. Please proceed Daniel" jack said to get the room moving.

"Thanks for that." Daniel said as he finished shuffling his papers and readying the PowerPoint he had put together for this briefing. "to get to the point, Through the course of my studies in the ancient archives here on Atlantis I have come across quite a bit of information regarding Other cities and the network of planets and satellite's that the Alterrans created in their fight against the wraith and the galaxies at large. Most of their network it appears was destroyed but it now seems that there is an area of space in Pegasus that the Wraith for some reason never seemed to invade. "Daniel paused to take a sip of water.

"Any idea why the wraith stayed away?" Jack Inquired.

"I think it was because they had some sort of defense network that the wraith couldn't get past, but we won't know until we get there."

"So what do you think is there that we might find? And do you have a planet or anything more than just some area of space?" Jack asked a little more pointedly.

"Yes, not only do we have a gate address we know the planet is called Kobol and I think it might have a city. More precisely several cities and possibly a city ship factory or satellite factory. The Alterrans records on this are sparse; I think it's their version of classified information." Daniel said with a hint of humor.

"What are you waiting for? Go." Said Jack with some finality.

"Sir I think the issue here is how large a force that we should send" Carter interjected. "What are you proposing Daniel? What do you think you need?" Jack asked Daniel pointedly.

"I think we will need two science teams that we can break in half if need be depending on how many cities or city sites we find. I also think we will need some ships in orbit for assistance over watch and as many able hands as possible." Daniel added with some trepidation. "That is a good start Daniel, Commodore Missen how many troops can you take on you ship." Jack asked the room. "Sir we are fresh from the ship yards and have only recently taken the wrapping off of her but I believe the Normandy class troop ships are rated to carry 30,000 souls and their equipment. Less if you added an ACR to our complement of course." Missen added warily. "Do you think you can transport 3rd brigade 2nd ACR, 4th battalion 10th mountain, and the 3rd red horse battalion? " Jack asked directly.

"Yes sir we can as well as an extra red horse squadron if needed, along with all provisions" Missen added. "We will need some follow on though sir as we will not know ahead of times all of our conceivable needs." Added Colonel Patton.

"That shouldn't be a problem colonel. Our basic plan will be this. SG-1 one will move by gate to the planet and make initial assessment of the viability of the mission. If they determine an initial success we will then move all available assets to the planet by way of the Normandy , Odyssey, and Enterprise." Jack stated.

"sir the Odyssey can take the tenth mountain with us to allow more space for another red horse squadron if you would like sir. We can clear out one hanger deck for their equipment and such. We have little need of a fighter cover when we have the enterprise and her drones by our side to destroy any enemy fighters." Colonel Chekov interjected.

"That would be great, however I think we should add major young and his rangers to the group on the Normandy as well so we might have some additional muscle. "jack said. "This mission may be a long one and have some danger, I think the more we can defend ourselves on station the better." Jack thought for a moment. "Plan for a year's worth of rations and supplies. This is an incredibly important mission that could have real ramifications for our long-term prospects in these two galaxies. If we find what Daniel thinks is out there we will have a new planet to defend. So whatever we put there has to have some staying power. "Jack added thoughtfully. "Fortune favors the bold people" jack paused. "Let's be bold" Jack added for a final statement.

The rest of the meeting started to break up as the ground commanders found Colonel Chekov and commodore Missen to make arrangements for their respective units. And the meeting that were sure to follow. Jack made his way to the front of the room grabbing colonel Caldwell and the rest of SG-1 to have a quiet meeting with the three of them. He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Colonel Caldwell will be leading the space side of this mission while Colonel Mitchell will be overall commander and in charge of all ground forces. Ships will leave in one week with SG-1 and the science teams leaving through the gate bridge. Both teams will rendezvous at New Lantea two weeks from today. Everyone understand that?" A chorus of yes sirs erupted from the rooms which were answered by Jack "fortune favors the bold." "Be bold" everyone answered and took their cue to leave the room.

"Interesting Jack" Daniel said while smiling. "What, I've been reading lately and I like the phrase" Jack said defensively. "Don't look now but you're becoming motivational." Daniel chided. "Daniel, I want you to get two people who can lead science and discovery teams as well as a second in command for each so you can break up the teams if you need to. You need to find them quickly though so they have time to assemble their people and bring them with you in two weeks. "Jack stated. "Colonel Caldwell I would like for you to transport the science teams from new Lantea to this planet Kobol. You will also have to tow the other two ships through hyperspace so that you can all make the two week window. " "That shouldn't be a problem sir, we can safely house over a thousand extra personnel." Colonel Caldwell added. "That should give you a ceiling on the size of the science teams. If you need more they will need to come through the gate. For now this is all I can spare." Jack stated. "But jack the ORI are gone..?" Daniel said inquisitively. "Yes, but the Lucian Alliance is proving to be more of a threat than we thought. I think pretty soon there is going to be a call for all hands to be on deck for that. The sooner I have all of you in Pegasus the less likely that they will push for you to be a part of the fight with the alliance." Jack thought for a second. "While I don't have to answer to the Security Council I do answer to the secretary general and he listens to them. And they are not wrong, even if they are a little short sighted at times." "Thanks Jack we'll do our best." Daniel added with some finality. "When you get to Pegasus make sure the five of you brief Dr. Weir. She will be the one to offer additional aid if you need it so you need to sell her on this." Jack said to the whole group but Colonel Mitchell specifically. "Colonel Caldwell I know that the Enterprise is a Peg Fleet ship but I am assigning you for now to this mission specifically, unless you hear from me that will not change. That is why you must get her to buy in on this. It will make things go better for you there." "Thank you sir, we will make it happen." Caldwell added. "Glad to hear it." Jack said as he started to walk away looking for General Carter who had left the room earlier. "Fortune favors the bold" Jack stated to the room as he neared the exit and made his way to Carters office behind the control area of the tower. "Be bold" the five remaining members of the meeting answered with a smile as they watched the General walk away.

As quiet descended on the room the last five people sat back down at the table to start to hash out some plans and figure out how they were going to make this all work. "I think that Dr. Rush and Dr. Perry would be a good fit for the two science team commanders, they are…" Daniel and Sg-1 talked for quite some time while Colonel Caldwell quietly excused himself after the first five minutes or so to find the other ship commanders and re-brief them on plans and situations for supplies. They all had a lot to do to prepare.

Two weeks later near New Lantea in the Pegasus Galaxy

In the dark of space out at the edge of the New Lantea system a bluish hole in space began to open, allowing three ships of familiar design to enter normal space. The Normandy, Odyssey, and Enterprise quietly exited hyper-space within sight of the outer orbiting gas giant. As they began to make their way in system unbeknownst to them a small ship was observing their arrival and looking for the signals that would tell them that some of their missing people had come back to them. Those people might not realize that they knew them but this "raider" as it called itself definitely knew them. They were all Cylons.

New Lantea: same time

Within the gate complex the Stargate complex alarms began to sound. Over the speaker system the gate tech cried "off world activation, incoming wormhole." As the last chevron locked the pool of water shot out form the center of the circle like water funneling into a drain only to be pulled back and collected in the puddle that was the event horizon. The Iris quickly covering the gate as they waited quietly for the authentication codes that identified friend or foe. "Receiving IDC form the gate bridge midway station mam." The gate tech said to Dr. Weir who had just arrived in the room. Stepping up to the control console at the front of the room Dr. Weir pressed the key to activate the mike "Daniel you are cleared to come through." "Open the iris, stand down defenses" Dr. Weir stated to the room to decrease tension levels and end their preparations. "You should also be seeing three ships approaching, they will be the Normandy, Odyssey, and Enterprise. " Daniel stated just before walking through the gate at the mid-way station into the gate room on new Lantea. He was promptly greeted by Dr. Weir "hello Daniel, good to see you. I did not expect you to bring friends" she stated as people began to stream through the gate. "Sorry for the surprise Elizabeth we have been so busy none of us have had time to talk to anyone and this briefing I have for you is pretty hush hush. Did you see the ships in system yet?" Daniel asked as Dr. Weir turned around to look up at the window to the Gate Control room. "Mam, it appears there are four ships.. No sorry the last one just disappeared. There are three ships coming in from the edge of the system. Fourth must have just been a glitch. I will have them run a diagnostic." The gate tech replied with a little confusion. "Good, Thanks" Elizabeth said as she turned to stare at Daniel and his growing number of companions. "Once Colonel Caldwell gets here we can begin. There will be a thousand people coming through so it may take a minute." Stated Daniel.

"In the meantime how about a quick tour of the facility" Dr. Weir added.

"That would be great. Is there a place we can move the science teams to so they are not in your way here in the gate room?" Daniel asked.

"Of course, Colonel Shepherd is here somewhere and he can take care of it." Dr. Weir added while keying up her radio to get the colonel into the action.

"Thanks again Elizabeth. It is good to see you." Daniel added to help smooth what would soon be a rather large headache they were giving the good Dr. Weir


	2. Chapter 2: into the breach

Thank you all who have read so far. This is my first fan fic, so I very much appreciate your input and want to hear what you think. Thanks.

And thanks to Rocket Scientist for agreeing to beta read. I am sure you will all appreciate the less eye straining you will have to do to get past the poor grammar.

INTO THE BREACH

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New Lantea

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"Wow. So this could be big, then?" Dr. Weir inquired of Daniel as the six of them finished the briefing on Kobol and discussed the new possibilities awaiting them. SG-1 and Colonel Caldwell were relieved that she seemed excited about those possibilities.

"That's what I said when I got the same briefing two weeks ago," Cam agreed with Dr. Weir, then tried a more direct approach. "This is why General O'Neill has given us such a great deal of personnel and latitude for this mission. We would like to make our initial foray into this place through the New Lantea Gate. We have all our own people so you won't have to provide us any security," Colonel Mitchell pleaded.

"The Gate use is not a problem, and I really don't have a lot of personnel to spare. I know we have half a million people here but they are all quite busy with the upkeep of Fort Point and fighting the Wraith," she stated matter-of-factly. "I can spare a MALP, though, so you at least won't have to go through completely blind."

"Thank you for that; we appreciate it. Also, we may need an additional RED HORSE squadron depending on what we find on Kobol. General O'Neill said he would appreciate any help you could provide," Colonel Mitchell added.

"That shouldn't be a problem. We just had a squadron come back from readying our Charlie site for evacuation – purely as a precautionary measure. I wasn't planning on seeing the _Enterprise_ for six months either since she was on shakedown in the Milky Way. What I can do is provide some intel cover to let you know if you have any Wraith coming your way." Dr. Weir was slowly resigning herself to her limited involvement. "Good luck, gentlemen. Let me know when you have people ready to move through the Gate." Dr. Weir said as she got up to leave the conference room. Stopping abruptly, she turned back to the group. "Colonel Caldwell, you are welcome to leave your ships in orbit, but if you would like to bring them planetside you may land them next to the shipyards just north of Fort Point. Oh, and I want Colonel Sheppard and his team to go with you, Daniel. Extra eyes can only help." Then she left.

"Thank you!" All five of them called to her as she walked away, leaving them all a little surprised that she would volunteer her people for their mission after saying she couldn't spare any.

"Do you think she realizes that if there are valuable assets on the planet, she might not want to miss out on them?" Vala asked no one in particular.

"I think that is exactly what she realized and she doesn't want to get left out," Daniel stated with a little admiration.

"I like her," Vala declared, also with some admiration.

"Someone should go find Colonel Sheppard so we can get his team up to speed," Daniel noted.

"I am headed back to the _Enterprise_ so we can land and give everyone a day's leave before we set off to meet you. I'll find Sheppard and let him know to come this way," Caldwell said as he got up to leave the room.

"Thanks, Colonel," Cam added.

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_Enterprise_: Orbiting New Lantea

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Sitting on the bridge, Colonel Caldwell had just given the order to land his flotilla of ships. He again noticed how pretty this area was as he watched Fort Point begin to take shape outside the windows. He had been there before the fort had been built and remembered clearly when they brought in the first RED HORSE squadrons to clear land and construct the fort he had helped to name. It was named after the Russian fishing settlement north of San Francisco that had existed before California became a nation and, eventually, a member of the United States. The Russians, fortunately, were pleased with the name.

Now Fort Point was becoming quite large. Complete with a fully functioning shipyard (from which the _Enterprise_ had been the first ship) and all its attendant facilities, as well as farming and everything that generally accompanies a lively city, Fort Point housed and employed many civilians. Of course, there was also a very large military contingent pieced together with armies from all over the earth. This was now where the Russians trained a good number of their Spetsnaz and had two brigades stationed as part of the Stargate Program. The EU had two full divisions here (one German and one French) and the US had their 7thLight Infantry Division (reactivated for the war with the Ori). There was talk of reactivating the old Sixth Army and bringing its units back to fight in Pegasus, but so far it was only talk. What people did not and could not see were the cloaked Heavy Ion Cannons dotting not only the fort grounds but also the whole planet. They were similar to the cannons created by the Tollans, but these were a little more powerful. The Wraith had already learned this lesson once when they sent a hive ship and a few cruisers to investigate Fort Point. They were quickly and forcibly chased away by a few shots from the cannons they never could locate.

"Touching down now, Sir." Sergeant Grainger's voice broke into Colonel Caldwell's thoughts as he watched the ground come clearer into view and felt the crunch of support structures touching down and pushing into the ground under the ship. The _Enterprise_ was big at 700 meters long it was more than twice as long as a modern aircraft carrier and would not have been able to land like most other ships. Fortunately the anti-gravity plating on her underside was built so that she would float just enough to not crush everything she touched. "Good job, Sergeant," Caldwell complimented her with more than a little belated happiness. This was the first time the ship had attempted to land and no one had really known how well it would go.

"Colonel, we need to meet with the other ship commanders. SG-1 is going through the Gate in 8 hours and Dr. Weir wants all of us there to watch them go through and to hear the first reports from Kobol," Colonel Mitchell said from the back of the bridge as he made his way out towards the hatch that led out of the ship and toward the waiting vehicles. "That sounds good. Maybe we can all grab some food on the way in." Caldwell said as he exited the bridge close behind Colonel Mitchell.

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Raider: Unknown Location

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In uncharted space the Raider blinked into existence. After three jumps it had finally made it to its destination. Sitting several thousand kilometers in front of the Raider, five enormous star-upon-star-shaped ships hovered in the space between two uninhabited star systems, waiting for the forward scouts to report. The information that the Raider was about to deliver would be invaluable to those in command of the Cylon fleets. For twenty years now, the Cylons had been working methodically to encircle their enemy: the human race. Soon, they would force their final war to annihilate humanity (which they knew of as the Twelve Colonies). Their last war with the humans had resulted in a stalemate and 35 years of forced peace. In that time, the Cylon race had even learned how to create Cylons with flesh that made them indistinguishable from other humans. It was for this that Leoben had sent out his Raiders to search. And apparently, that is what he had found. Leoben stood at his console as the Raider docked with his Basestar. He was amazed as he watched the information coming from the Raider. These ships that supposedly held his people were unlike anything he had ever seen.

"Obviously, these are from a secret group within the Colonial Military. We must get word of this back to the home world so that we can discuss it," Leoben said, both to himself and the other Leoben standing next to him. "But we must shadow these new people and download information from our operatives within these new ships," the other Leoben added.

"They are small ships but they do seem to use a different kind of FTL, which could be dangerous."

"We will destroy them if necessary."

"Of course, but we must consult the others," Leoben said to himself.

Slowly, the Raider received his instructions and removed himself from his docking slip. He moved away from the ship and quickly disappeared in a flash of light as he again headed on a mission to serve his brethren on their home world. The five base ships of the task force also moved toward where the Raider had found its new brothers, unaware of the error in the Raider's programming that would lead them to an altogether different place. Quietly, all five base stars winked out of existence.

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New Lantea

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"Dial the Gate! " Dr. Weir shouted from the floor of the Gate Room as she stood next to Colonel Mitchell. "Colonel, I will have my team follow you through once we have established viability," Dr. Weir stated.

"Sounds good. I am very curious to see what is so different about this place that makes the Wraith stay away from it" Mitchell replied with some idle curiosity.

"Chevron six engaged" the Gate Tech's voice crackled across the speakers in the room.

Mitchell watched in silence as the seventh Chevron engaged and the event horizon mushroomed out and then splashed back into the Gate, creating the stable blue puddle they were all accustomed to.

"Send the MALP," Dr. Weir again bellowed. "The microphone in this room was hit by an arrow yesterday," Dr. Weir said in answer to Mitchell's questioning look.

"Mission gone awry?" Mitchell asked knowingly.

"Yep," Dr. Weir said nonchalantly as the MALP disappeared through the event horizon.

"MALP telemetry coming in. Feeding it to you now." The Gate Tech declared as the wall to the right of the Gate sprang to life with the video feed from the MALP that was now on Kobol surveying the area around the Gate. The scene before them was breathtaking. The Gate apparently sat at the crest of a small hill with a gently sloped valley in front of it and a small lake at the bottom. With large hills at a moderate distance and mountains with snowcapped peaks farther off, it was obviously a very diverse planet. The field in front of gate was filled a wild grass that Mitchell had not seen before. Just beyond the field was a forest of what must have been a form of redwood because the trees were massive – bigger than any trees he had ever seen. And barely poking out above the hills he could just see the tops of the spires of city ships reaching for the sky.

"Wow," Daniel gaped as he too acknowledged the beauty of the place they were seeing.

"There is the DHD on the right," Major Hailey said, giving the final piece of information they needed from the MALP.

"Let's go. Colonel Sheppard, we'll see you in a minute." Mitchell said as he and his team stepped forward and began to move through the gate. As the last of SG-1 moved into and through the gate the wormhole abruptly shut off. Dr. Weir gave the Gate Tech in the control room a very perplexed stare and when the Gate did not begin rotating again after a minute or so she gave an agitated wave toward him and headed for the Control Room with SGP-1 in tow to figure out what was going on.

"Ma'am, I don't know what happened. It's almost as if the Gate on the other end sucked all the energy out of our Gate and left us dead. We are replacing the buffer, though, so we should be able to re-dial here in just a few minutes. Most likely it was our buffer; it's the same one we've been using since we built this base," The Gate Tech explained as he worked away resetting computer programs and such.

"Are we ready to go yet?" Sheppard asked over his radio as he and Ronan made their way back to the Gate Room. He and Ronan rejoined Teyla and Rodney, who were standing to the side and waiting as the Gate finally began to re-dial the Kobol Gate address. With another wormhole established, Dr. McKay was quick to check the MALP telemetry again.

"Everything still looks good but I don't see SG-1?" Ronan said to the group, implying that something might not be right.

"I'm sure they're fine. They probably saw the gate close behind them and decided to begin their survey. I'm sure we'll find them quickly once we're through the gate," Sheppard stated as he started to Gate.

"I don't know Sheppard," Rodney complained only halfheartedly as he stood watching his team walk away from him.

"Rodney, the Gate Tech is going to throw oranges at you if you don't move. Let's go!" Shepherd called in the most threatening voice he could fake.

"Fine!" Rodney muttered, sounding very exasperated as he too made his way through the Gate, which promptly closed behind him.

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Unknown Planet: One Hour and Thirty Minutes Ago

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"Has it already started?" He asked as he shuffled quickly down the path and through the hall leading into the temple. The cavern before him was immense – easily three hundred feet tall and a half a mile long and covered in calcifying stalactites and stalagmites that resembled warriors standing at attention, protecting the natural world. The temple was the only naturally constructed part of Zion, the last human city in the universe. It was filled with people waiting to hear the word from the Councilor and the ship's captain and Matrix warrior Morpheus. Only a few people knew the whole story, but he did know the historians had found another cavern much further down inside the shaft of rock that was Zion. In that cavern, they had found some artifacts explaining something about their past they did not understand. He had overheard the councilor speaking to Neo about all of them coming from a place called "Kobol" and something about a "thirteenth colony." Unfortunately, he had not heard more because Neo had seen him hiding in the corner and shooed him out.

"There is something you must know today," the Councilor bellowed from the front of the temple as all of the people listened in rapt attention. "We have learned today that we, the people of Zion, are part of a bigger world. We are not as alone as we thought. Deep within the city we have found an archive. This archive has told us that we were once part of a larger world, one of thirteen colonies that lived on another planet. We do not yet know how to reach these other people, but we will learn the old ways. Unfortunately, we now have a threat that is greater than we could have imagined: the machines are coming. They are tunneling to us and we must fight them; we must turn them away so that we may have time to call for help…." The councilor stopped after several minutes to reach out to his friend Morpheus, who was standing in the group behind the podium along with much of city's leadership.

"My friends, I give you Morpheus. He has been here many times and spoken to you here on many occasions but tonight he has a special word for you," the Councilor finished as Morpheus stepped to the podium.

"City of Zion…." He was an imposing figure, tall, muscular, and ebony skinned. Staring intently at the congregation and glancing at the artifacts that were now placed along the side of the temple, he spoke for several minutes. Most of the artifacts were medium-sized objects not unfamiliar to most people, but a few were of an unknown origin and harder than any steel. One artifact in particular kept drawing his gaze. It was a circular disc with strange markings on its outer rim, and it had a large hole in the center. Historians had been unable to discern the purpose of the artifact.

"City of Zion…we are still here!" Morpheus finished as the people all rose in a tremendous cheer that filled the temple and echoed throughout the city. What the people did not notice was that the strange circular object had started to spin. As the inner circle began to move, strange lights came on at different points around the circle. Those standing near the artifact finally noticed and began to back away from this circle sitting on the wall. No one near the podium noticed, though, because as Morpheus finished speaking and left the podium, they could not even see that part of the temple. Eventually, they heard the sound of the artifact, and it was terrifying. It seemed as if all of the air rushed out of that corner of the temple and then, strangely enough, it sounded as if waterfall suddenly appeared in its place. As they rushed around the podium to see why the room had suddenly become silent, they witnessed something they had never expected. Water was gushing back into the circular artifact and creating a gently rippling pool that filled the inner hole, something clearly impossible. Unfortunately, it also looked as though that water had killed several people standing in front of it. Their feet were still sitting upright on the ground without the rest of their bodies. And then to everyone's utter shock, four people came out of the puddle wearing clothes and carrying weapons that looked much like those found within the Matrix. Morpheus placed his hand on the back of his head to check his connection terminal. If the terminal hadn't been there, he would know that he was in the Matrix. Somehow, feeling his terminal connection was not particularly comforting.

"Halt! Who are you and how did you get here?" Commander Lock demanded in the most commanding voice he could muster. "What is that device you just walked through?" He asked as the puddle of glowing water behind the newcomers disappeared, again shocking the crowd of people tensely watching the scene unfolding before them. Realizing that these new people were armed, Commander Lock had his security detachment surround them and said, "Drop your weapons immediately. Weapons are not permitted in the temple except for temple security."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

SG-1: Same Time

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel thought that something didn't seem right. Unlike a normal trip between Gates, which felt instantaneous, Daniel distinctly felt the first part of the trip and then he felt what he could only later describe as "like being bounced off of a wall and rebounding into another Gate." He and the rest of the team exited the Gate a little faster than normal into a completely unfamiliar place. They were standing in a cavern easily a half-mile long from the look and very tall. What worried Daniel was that they were surrounded by people – and not just a few. The large cavern was literally full of people who did not look happy.

"Cam, I think we have a problem," Daniel said with a little fearfully.

"What gave you that idea?!" Cam all but quietly shouted at Daniel as he raised his weapon to a ready position.

"Halt! Who are you and how did you get here?" A tall, thin African man spoke to them from a slight distance.

"Daniel, you want to speak or should I?" Cam whispered to Daniel, who was just behind him and ready to take the lead. At this point, they noticed a single file of men moving towards them carrying what they guessed were weapons, though they were nothing they had seen before.

"Colonel, we should probably lower our weapons before I speak to them," Daniel stated.

"Right, let's do that. Slowly," Cam warned as they all lowered their weapons, which they had un-holstered by reflex.

"What is that device you just walked through?" The same man asked. SG-1 was surrounded by security. Though the security guards were intent on protecting their people, they also needed to protect SG-1 from the crowd that was just beginning to realize their friends had perished in the event horizon. Vala noticed and pointed to the feet now lying on the ground before them.

"My name is Daniel Jackson. We are from Earth and we come as peaceful explorers to this planet." Daniel opened his mouth to say more but didn't get far as the angered crowd began to press in on them.

"I am Commander Lock, and this is Captain Morpheus. I must ask that you come with us, before this situation worsens," Morpheus commanded. Daniel and Cam gave their assent, and followed Lock and Morpheus through an opening in the cavern, which led into a terrifyingly large shaft that stretched so far that Daniel could only guess.

"Where are we?" He asked the soldier in front of him.

"How do you not know? This is Zion, the last human city. We are deep under the surface," the soldier said with wonder. After several minutes of travel, and several climbs up and down many stairs, they arrived at what could have been some sort of council chambers. Daniel looked around quickly at the granite walls. Benches of the same material were hewn directly into the walls, providing seating for smoothly cut stone tables. Daniel assumed that these people did not care to use wood for construction purposes.

"Explain yourselves, and be quick. The council will arrive shortly, and I want some answers before they arrive," Commander Lock said with a little more anger than was probably necessary.

"My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson, this is Colonel Mitchell, and Vala Mal Doran," said Daniel, gesturing toward Vala, who was standing behind Cam.

"And this is Lieutenant Hailey, our science officer." Hailey waved meekly from the back of the group, a motion that the natives found unfamiliar.

"We are part of an organization known as Stargate Command, and we are peaceful explorers. We left our home base bound for the planet Kobol…somehow we ended up here," Daniel stated rather matter-of-factly. "We are very sorry for causing the loss of your people by opening your Stargate."

"If you would allow us to go back to the Gate, I am quite certain that we can return through it to our base," Cam added, as he could tell that these people were not at all happy to see them.

Commander Lock began to speak, but was cut off by the man who called himself Captain Morpheus. "That is not for us to decide; the Council will be here shortly, and just so you are aware, they have already put the circular device back into its storage container – the order was given even before we left the temple," Morpheus stated, then with a great deal of curiosity asked, "What exactly is that device? We have only recently uncovered it in some old archives from before the war began. " Morpheus was also trying to assess these new people's strengths and weaknesses. Commander Lock obviously did not see this as he looked like he was about to explode in frustration at being interrupted and at Morpheus's apparent disregard for information confidentiality.

"Please listen: there is another team that will be coming through in moments; you must reopen the Gate or they might not survive the trip," Colonel Mitchell pleaded, and instantly realized that the asking would be unsuccessful.

"Again, that is not for us to decide Colonel…Mitchell, is it?" Morpheus was hoping to induce more conversation. "Please explain this 'Stargate' and your creation of it."

"The Stargate, as you know, is the circular device we came through. It allows for the creation of a stable wormhole to second similar Gate in a different place, letting people and objects travel between those two points. They generally never travel between two planets, but can cover vast amounts of space," Lieutenant Hailey explained to what she was only mildly surprised to find was a room full of blank stares.

"Do you mean to say that you are not from this planet?" Morpheus asked as people started to file quickly into the chamber and take seats behind the stone tables at the front of the room.

"Commander Lock, secure the room and bring these people to sit before us. Your commanders may sit in their assigned seats to hear the testimony from these new people so we may all decide what to do with them and this new device." The person who appeared to be the head Councilor spoke to Commander Lock as Lock put his people into motion to obey the Councilor.

"This is not how we should be doing this," Commander Lock said quietly to his second in command and others close to him as he moved to fulfill the will of the Council.

"I am the Lead Councilor of the City of Zion. My name is Ares. We want to know who you are and why you are here," he stated to begin the proceedings.

"Sir, if I may. This is Dr. Daniel Jackson, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran, and Lieutenant Hailey, their science officer. They are from a place called Stargate Command. They claim to be from another world." Commander Lock spoke for them from the first row of the raised stone seats that made the back half of the council chamber look much like an old Roman amphitheater would have on Earth. Some murmurs rose from the crowd of people that had now taken seats throughout the rest of the amphitheater.

"That is correct. We are part of an alliance of nations from the planet Earth that has the mission to explore new planets and seek out relations with new peoples. Lieutenant Hailey can explain the science of the Stargate shortly but I want you to know that we were sent here by mistake, I believe. I am very sorry for the loss of your people in the event horizon of the Stargate But it is imperative that we be allowed to go back through the Stargate and that our friends – who will be arriving shortly – be allowed to join us. If they do not make it through the Gate, it would mean the end of their lives," Daniel stated with finality as murmurs moved through the crowd and the Council at the front of the room.

"We will not remove this Stargate from its container until we understand more about it. We must know if the machines can use it. Is it a porthole through which they could infiltrate this city?" Ares asked as the Council sat watching intently.

"We know of machine races that have plagued the galaxies and we have defeated many of them, but we do not know which machines you speak of. To answer your question, no one that we know of can enter any Stargate-generated wormhole. Unless these machines also reside on a planet with a Gate they know how to use, they could not use it to gain access to this place," Lieutenant Hailey answered, feeling a little more useful.

"If we can be allowed to reach out to our people we may be able to assist you in some way," Daniel added to continue persuading them to cooperate.

"Perhaps if we knew a bit more about these machines…." Vala interjected in an attempt to get the Council talking.

"Perhaps we can speak of that once we know more about this device. Can you explain it to us again, Lieutenant Hailey?"

"Of course. To start, the Stargate is a…." Hailey began the half-hour long explanation of the Stargate and basic wormhole physics for the Council and the resident scientists.

Meanwhile Dr. Jackson and Ares had stepped to the side with a small group of people whom Dr. Jackson soon realized were their version of archeologists. Apparently, these people had almost all escaped from a sort of machine hibernation from what Daniel could gather in their short discussion. Some of them had been born here, but they were the progeny of those who had escaped earlier and had found this facility while running from the machines. It appeared that they had lived within this city for nearly a hundred years. During that time, they had learned very little about their past. They knew that they had once lived on the surface in incredibly huge cities that spanned most of their continents and that they had created remarkable artificial intelligence. However, that creation had turned against them. Believing that if they darkened the skies with what Daniel could only assume were nuclear devices of some sort that the machines feeding on solar power would die, they were horrified to discover the machines had found a way to turn humans into batteries. Because of this, the human race on this planet was grown and enslaved on this planet to feed the machines. No one knew how long it had been this way; only that it had begun before any of them had been born. More recently, these people had discovered a vault towards the bottom of the city with some ancient books and artifacts in it that opened their eyes to a much larger view of their world. According to the documents they could decipher, they were a tribe of Kobol. They believed that they were the thirteenth tribe and that somewhere in the universe were twelve other tribes. Many of the documents were in languages that they could not decipher, though. They never had much opportunity to study languages other than their own native one.

"Maybe if we work together, I can help you. I also am an archeologist and I speak more than thirty languages," Daniel said, modestly. They were surprised and impressed. "You should be careful, though, because some of the devices you have could be very dangerous. The Stargate is only dangerous if you stand in the wrong place, but some other artifacts we often find accompanying a Stargate can be much more hazardous. Can I go look at this room and the other devices and artifacts?" Daniel asked as he motioned for Vala to join him while Colonel Mitchell and Lieutenant Hailey stayed to continue their discussion with the Council.

As Ares led Daniel and Vala out of the chambers, a messenger came up to him to inform him that a tremor had been recorded near the surface that was characteristically identical to the one they had felt earlier.

"Was it the same as the tremor you would have recorded when we came through the gate?" Daniel asked worriedly as he realized the other team may have just come through a different gate on this planet.

"Yes sir," the page answered as he sped off back in the direction from which he had come.

"Is that a problem Dr. Jackson?" Ares inquired as they continued walking.

"Yes, it very much is. We have to get back to Colonel Mitchell. We have to let him know and we have to find our other team," said Daniel as he keyed his radio to reach Colonel Mitchell.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Unknown Planet: Different Location – Fifteen Minutes Earlier

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Colonel Sheppard knew something wasn't right as soon as he entered the Gate. He suddenly felt as though he bounced off of something and started moving in another direction. He knew for sure when he stepped through the gate into a very dark, very abandoned cave.

"Lights everyone, something isn't right. Be on alert," he instructed in a low voice as Ronan and Teyla moved up behind him in a wedge formation as they advanced toward what appeared to be sunlight and a possible cave entrance. Fumbling around in the tunnel at the center of the formation, Dr. McKay was quite agitated at being in the wrong place,

"I told her we needed to look more at this planet before we sent people through. Dr. Jackson!" Dr. McKay all but yelled into his radio as he attempted to reach SG-1, whom he simply assumed would be right around the corner.

"McKay, quiet. I don't think they're close by. This just doesn't feel right." Sheppard's quite authority made McKay stop talking abruptly. Suddenly, his radio crackled to life.

"Who is this and why are you on this line?" The voice was unfamiliar.

"This is Colonel Sheppard. Who is this, and have you seen SG-1?" Sheppard asked, hoping whoever was on the other end might be able to help them.

"We do not know 'SG-1,' but if you tell us where you are we can come to your aid," the voice said. Unfortunately, they never got to answer as both Sheppard and Ronan were hit by bolts of electricity and fell to the ground, unconscious. Meanwhile, Teyla and McKay fell back towards the gate but were quickly knocked unconscious as well. They were lucid just long enough to see a strange squid-like machine amble through the opening of the tunnel that they were attempting to escape. The Machine City Sentinel did not understand how four humans could have escaped, but they would need to be plugged back in. It was not for it to decide what came to the city or how they got there. The only mission was to protect the city and its power source. These four would definitely be plugged back into the Matrix.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

New Lantea

XXXXXXXXXXXX

To say that pandemonium ensued would not be an understatement. Colonel Sheppard's second in command had himself become quite agitated when the Gate abruptly closed the second time. Major Lorne had ordered the ready team of Rangers into the Gate Room for an immediate evacuation of both SG teams. As he was shouting the order to bring the team into the gate room, Dr. Weir was composing herself and making her way to the Gate Control Room.

"What is wrong with our Gate?" she asked the room as she moved through the door towards the Gate Tech's console.

"I don't know why the Gate keeps closing. It isn't our buffer this time and we can dial right away," explained the Gate Tech as he was entering the coordinates to redial Kobol.

"Major Lorne, you will wait for my command. Until we figure out why this is happening we will not be sending anyone through the gate." Dr. Weir's tone indicated she was expecting her orders to be followed, no questions asked, which earned her a hard glare from the major.

He finally replied with a perfunctory "Yes, Ma'am," then added, "Ready team stand down; be prepped to leave in five minutes." The ready team was exiting the room as the Gate sprang back to life and a stable wormhole was established. Again the view of the beautiful landscape of Kobol displayed itself on the wall. This time, they would stick to using the MALP to explore.

"Dr. Jackson, come in. This is New Lantea Control. Colonel Sheppard, please respond…." They tried to reach them for several minutes. Finally, Dr. Weir decided to spend some time exploring with the MALP.

"Major Lorne please hand me the control for the MALP," she requested. Major Lorne had just entered the Control Room still in full combat gear. "Yes, Ma'am." Then he reminded her of what was weighing on her mind. "We need to find them quickly. Their survival gets less and less likely the longer we wait." He succeeded in rekindling her sense of urgency.

"You think I don't know that? You think I have never been on the other side of that? Do you remember the Replicators?" Dr. Weir snapped at the major. Then, suddenly, "What is that?"

Dr. Weir was distracted by the screen showing the view of the front of the DHD as the MALP had moved around to explore. "I don't know, it looks like some sort of alteration was made to the DHD and Gate circuitry," muttered Dr. Zelenka as he stared intently at the strange box-like device attached by way of a crystal control device to the main control board of the DHD. A cord connected the setup to side of the gate.

"Dr. Weir, could you move the MALP over a little more so we can see where that cord goes? If it is what I think it is it will feed into the actual Gate control panel." Zelenka continued muttering as Dr. Weir moved the MALP over at his request. "Oh, dear. That is not good. We need to get someone to that planet right away. If that is what I think it is, then our teams are probably on some other planet, nowhere near this one." Zelenka sounded quite worried.

"What is it?" Dr. Weir demanded.

"It looks like a control device of some sort, similar to the one the Wraith used to jump into the gate bridge several years ago. A little more refined, maybe, but very similar," Dr. Zelenka said, then mumbled something in Czech.

"Call Colonel Caldwell. I want him and his mission commanders in the briefing room in thirty minutes." Dr. Weir was already walking quickly out of the room as she called instructions to Major Lorne, who immediately sprang into action.

Thirty minutes later, they were all gathered in the Briefing Room.

"Colonel Caldwell, we need to change your mission. Thirty minutes ago both teams were lost. They are currently MIA on an unknown planet," Dr. Weir said flatly. She wanted no argument from the commanders in the room. "We know that they initially went through the Gate to Kobol, but we believe that a device attached to the Gate redirected them somewhere else."

"How?" Colonel Caldwell asked.

"We are not sure yet how this has happened, but Dr. Zalenka will come with you because he believes that the device attached to the gate is something that he has seen before," she explained.

Zalenka added, "I believe the device attached to the Gate is similar to one the Wraith used to hack into our Gate Bridge a few years ago."

"Do we think the Wraith are involved in this?" Caldwell asked what they had all been wondering.

"I don't think this is Wraith, but it is always possible," Zalenka said diplomatically.

Dr. Weir concluded, "I am not telling you to stop your original mission, conduct that as and how you see fit. However, we must find our teams and render assistance in whatever way we can. You have my full support. If you need ships, supplies, or anything just ask."

"Thank you, Ma'am. We will find our people. Are any other ships available, should we need them?" Colonel Caldwell asked as he got up from the table, joined by his other commanders.

"I have the _Ajax_ and _Kronos_ stationed with two other ships nearing completion that I can have crewed and ready within the week if need be."

"Thank you Doctor, we will be in touch." Colonel Caldwell turned to address his ships' commanders standing in the room. "Gentlemen, retrieve your crews. We break orbit in fifteen minutes." Caldwell keyed his radio and then disappeared in a flash of light as the _Enterprise_ transported him to the bridge. All of the ships were in orbit within ten minutes after the ready teams beamed the crews aboard.

As the ships released themselves from the orbit of New Lantea, directly ahead of them a purplish tear opened in space and the three ships slipped into hyperspace, beginning their short journey to the Kobol system where they would hopefully find some answers. One thing Colonel Caldwell knew for sure was that someone would be made to pay for this.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kobol System

XXXXXXXXXX

Resting at the far edge of the solar system, in amongst the debris and meteoroids leftover from the system's creation, sat five enormous star-shaped ships. They were watching – waiting for these unknown people who had their comrades aboard their ships.

Leoben was waiting, and he wanted answers. What he knew of this, he did not like. From the information he had gathered, he knew these people were advanced. He was not sure yet how much or what connection they had to the colonials, but he would find out.

One thing he was sure of was that he would find out.

Because of this he was not surprised to see several familiar ships appear near the outermost planet in the system. He knew this ship. The _Galactica_ was a Battlestar. A monster left from the first Cylon/Colonial War, still very formidable. Leoben would wait because he was certain now that these two would be meeting the unknowns, the _Gallactica,_ and whatever ship followed behind her.

He would be ready when that happened.

He would destroy them all.


	3. Chapter 3: thou shalt grind meat

**Thou shalt grind meat**

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Kobol System

XXXXXXXXXXX

Deep within the system, near the third planet, they circled quietly. The three ships of the Tauri task force were now orbiting the planet Kobol. They had arrived in system less than six hours ago and, after patrolling the inner planets for a while, they had decided it was safe enough to attempt an orbit. If all went well, a few teams would beam to the surface.

"How is the scan of the system coming, Sergeant?" Colonel Caldwell asked his NCO sitting at the ops station.

"Sir, the nebula surrounding the system is very strange and is blocking much of our sensor equipment. We have a lot of interference. It would seem that we are alone, Sir, but I am receiving a few signals that appear to be from ships, but I can't be sure," he said uncertainly.

"How big are the signals? Small ships? Like small asteroids, maybe? Or like Capitol Ship size?" Caldwell asked.

"One large, Sir, and two slightly smaller," stated the Sergeant.

"Sir, we are ready to beam down to the surface to begin studying the Gate," Zelenka said over his radio to Colonel Caldwell.

"Very well. We will beam you down. We have a contact in the outer edge of the solar system investigating that area; if you need any assistance in the next few hours, contact the _Normandy_. Commodore Missen will be in command until we return. If you need weapon support, Colonel Chekov will be here for you. Is Dr. Rush with you?"

"Yes, Sir. I am," Dr. Rush replied.

"I would like you to get your forward team together with the forward team from our two RED HORSE squadrons to begin your initial assessment of the planet. Let them know that they need to make preparations for a long-term stay here. Let's not waste the time we have." Colonel Caldwell pushed a little.

"Yes, Sir. We will be ready in ten minutes," Dr. Rush responded.

"Lieutenant, when the two teams are ready, beam them down to the surface, " Caldwell instructed his transportation officer. Then, speaking to everyone in the room, he said, "As soon as the teams have beamed away, I want us to break orbit and go full sublight to those possible contacts. I need to brief the other ships on the situation." He made his way out to his ready room just off of the bridge.

"… Thank you, Gentlemen. So you all understand your assignments?" The colonel inquired of the conference participants as he was trying to bring the hastily called meeting to a close. "If I need any support, I will call you, Chekov. We don't want to forget our initial mission, Gentlemen. We may move heaven and earth to find our SG teams, but we can't forget our mission. Fortune favors the bold!" Colonel Caldwell finished as he concluded the meeting and prepared himself to re-enter the bridge. He couldn't help but chuckle as he found himself repeating that silly catchphrase General O'Neill had planted in their minds.

"Sergeant, cloak the ship. I want to be discrete if these are ships we don't know," Colonel Caldwell ordered as he entered the bridge. The _Enterprise_ moved gracefully away from her sister ships on her way to the system's outer edge. Quietly leaving orbit of Kobol, she gracefully slipped from view, not to be seen again for some time.

XXXXXXXXX

Orbiting the Large Gas Giant in the Kobol System.

XXXXXXXXX

"Is the CAP in place?" Commander Adama inquired of his Commander Air Group. They had been a full month out of Picon fleet headquarters and still had no real sightings of the Cylons. He was beginning to think that the fleet might have been wrong about the Cylons moving out this far.

"Yes, Sir. CAP is in place and reconnaissance Raptors are moving further into the system," stated Lieutenant Kara Thrace, CAG of the _Gallactica_ and quite possibly the best pilot in the fleet. Thrace understood the mission as the lead Battlestar and recon ship, along with her two Gunstars for support. It was their mission to be the eyes of the small fleet, and she playfully thought of herself as the one to take a stick and poke it in the eyes of the Cylons wherever they could find them. If she could do that, then the other ships following behind could bring their power to bear. What Kara had not previously known was that they were also searching for resources and more planets to colonize. They had not yet come across any habitable planets, though, so Adama had simply not told not told her or her Raptor pilots until this morning's pre-flight briefings. It had come as a bit of a shock to all of the pilots, because all of the fleet and most civilians thought that resources were still plentiful, just as the leadership wanted everyone to believe. The new knowledge changed things for Kara and her team. Suddenly, Kara noticed something and called to Commander Adama, "Sir, we just received a transmission from Boomer. She was on recon near the third planet. She's reporting a lot of old buildings and some pretty amazing things on the planet's surface. She also said that she saw two ships of unknown origin and that she's on her way back with some camera footage."

"What types of ships, Lieutenant?" Adama inquired urgently. "Did they detect her?"

"I don't know yet, Sir," Kara responded. "She'll be entering the starboard flight pod in minutes, Sir. We can hear from her then," Kara said as she led the Commander off of the bridge. From the bowels of the ship they made their way down hallways and through hatches much like those on a modern "Wet Navy" aircraft carrier. Eventually they reached the one of the two outer flight pods, which protruded out of the sides of the ship like alligator legs. Lieutenant Sharon "Boomer" Valerii was waiting for them. Having already sent the camera footage off to be processed, she was more than happy to talk directly to the commander.

"No, Sir. I don't believe they noticed me. With all of the interference in this system, I don't think they could see me. I know they made no move towards me the entire time," Boomer answered Commander Adama's immediate inquiry.

"Good." Adama paused. "Kara, I want you to double the CAP. I don't want anyone sneaking through because of all this interference."

"Yes, Sir," Kara agreed as the PA system came to life asking for the commander to phone the bridge. For at least the thousandth time, Adama thought of how nice it would be to have better electronic and communication equipment. As usual, though, he reminded himself that the Cylons would love that, too. After all, there was nothing machine-people liked more than good tech they could capture and control. Reaching the ready room for the Viper squadron, Commander Adama picked up the corded phone that would connect him to the bridge. "This is Adama."

"Pegasus Actual, Admiral Cain here. How goes it, Bill? Any luck yet?" The Admiral asked. As the commander of this operation, Cain was an integral part of their briefing and mission planning. She remembered sitting with Bill and Admiral Corman, chief of fleet operations, being told about the resource shortages and how absolutely necessary it was to locate some Tylium, which they used as fuel. Tylium was in such short supply that certain members of the colonial fleet were willing to reignite the Cylon War to find it.

"I think we have a planet in this system that is habitable, and it looks like it was once inhabited," stated Adama as he took a long breath.

"That's great. What is your security situation? Any Cylons?" Cain asked the question that was foremost on her mind. As the youngest admiral in the fleet, Admiral Cain was not used to being above Commander Adama. As her adopted father, he took great pride in her, and for that reason they worked well together. Because she trusted him so much, they had both been given control of this important mission.

"We detected two ships around the inner planet I just told you about. We're unsure of their origin and I believe they have yet to see us," Adama said.

"Do you need my assistance? I can have the group there in twenty minutes," Cain interrupted.

"No, Sir. I would like it if you were five minutes out, but I want to stay as inconspicuous as possible. I still have surprise on my side, but if I have more ships in system I don't think that surprise will last long. Better to be quiet and stealthy until we have more information," Adama said quickly.

"Sounds good, Let me…" Cain started, but she was interrupted by the PA system again coming to life.

"Commander Adama to the bridge. Incoming communication of unknown origin." The voice of Lieutenant Gaeta, tactical officer, stated he tried to triangulate the transmission they were receiving.

"Sir, if I could have you five minutes out in case I need some assistance for this…I will let you know what is happening as soon as possible." Adama stated as he was hurrying from the room.

"Will do. We'll be ready. Pegasus Actual out," Cain said to an empty room, as Adama was already halfway down the hall. Admiral Cain and her three Battlestar's and six Gunstars would most definitely be ready. It had been a while since she had been able to shoot at Cylons and she wasn't going to miss it.

XXXXXXXX

_Enterprise_

XXXXXXXX

"Sir, approaching the coordinates of the unknown contacts," the ops officer stated.

"On screen!" Caldwell asserted. Sitting before them was a massive ship covered with guns from stern to bow. It looked like it had missile tubes as well, all along the top of the ship. There seemed to be two types of ships launching from and landing on the larger ship, one more bulbous that looked like a small transport ship and another that looked rather like a Wraith dart. "Are those Wraith darts?" Caldwell inquired of his officers.

"No, Sir. Their energy signature seems very different. In fact, the main ship does not appear to have a shield or any type of energy source that would allow for FTL."

"Do they have energy weapons?"

"No, Sir. It does not appear so. From the looks of it, those guns are probably basic gas-propelled guns."

"Okay. Then they don't appear to be any real threat to us yet," Colonel Caldwell concluded.

"It looks like the ship has a name; can you zoom in, Sergeant?" Caldwell asked.

"Yes, Sir. Appears to be the _Gallactica,_ Sir. Interesting that it's in the English alphabet," the ops officer noted.

"Sergeant, back us off a bit. I want to hail them, but I don't want to be so close that we'll spook them," Caldwell commanded.

"The channel is open, Sir," the sergeant stated as the ship finished reversing course.

"This is the Tauri Ship _Enterprise_; we are conducting operations within this system. Please state your intentions." Caldwell spoke to the ship on the view screen.

"No response, Sir," the NCO said after thirty seconds of waiting.

"Repeat the hail in all known languages. Let's give them a minute. Lieutenant, ready a shuttle just in case."

"Yes, Sir," the lieutenant answered as she left the bridge to make the necessary preparations.

XXXXXXXXX

_Gallactica_: Same Time

XXXXXXXXX

"Sir, we have been hailed by a craft that I can't find on DRADIS. It hailed us in five languages so far, Sir, and one of them was Caprican Standard." Lt. Gaeta was utterly befuddled.

"Let's hear it, then," Adama ordered. He had just entered the CIC and was now standing in front of is plotting table, where most missions took place.

"This is the Tauri Ship _Enterprise_; we are conducting operations within this system. Please state your intentions," the PA said to Adama.

As the commander took a moment to digest this information, Gaeta added, "I still can't find any ships within DRADIS range, Sir."

"Maybe it's a Cylon trick," Colonel Tigh said as he entered the CIC. "Back on duty, Sir." The ship's XO sounded only slightly drunk. His issue was well known to the commander, but as long as he could perform his duties, Adama would overlook it. Saul had too much history with the commander for something like that to change things.

"Let's answer their hail, Lieutenant," Adama ordered.

"Sir, I recommend we go to general quarters just in case," Tigh suggested as he finished buttoning his tunic.

"That will be fine," Adama answered.

"Sound general quarters. Make the ship ready!" Tigh called out as the klaxons started blaring, telling everyone to make all haste to get to their duty stations.

"Sir, the line is open," Gaeta informed Commander Adama.

"This is Colonial Battlestar _Gallactica_. We have been in this system for 8 hours and had seen no activity. Our intentions are not hostile. We are on a mission of exploration past the Red Line. Could you tell us who is commanding your ship?" Commander Adam inquired.

"This is Colonel Caldwell. I am commander of the _Enterprise_. To whom am I speaking, and can we talk via video?" Caldwell asked.

"This is Commander Adama. I am the commanding officer of the Battlestar _Gallactica_. It is strange to talk to a person on a ship that I cannot see." Adama stated by way of by way of inquiry unsure if he was being pranked. Meanwhile, Gaeta quietly informed the commander that the transmission was coming from about one hundred thousand kilometers off the bow of the ship.

"We are glad to hear that you to are explorers. I don't believe that our people have met and I would like to know more about you. Are you from a nearby system?" Caldwell did the only thing he could think of and asked an obvious question. Not realizing that he hadn't de-cloaked the ship.

"We do not have video conferencing capability onboard this ship. Please explain why I am receiving your transmission from one hundred thousand kilometers off my bow but there is no ship in that vicinity?" The commander demanded as he signaled Tigh to ready the forward gun batteries and vector a flight of Vipers to the area of the signal's origin.

Caldwell silently chastised himself for such a silly mistake and motioned for his systems officer to de-cloak and raise the shields.

"Frak! Gunstar-sized ship directly in front of us sir! Firing solution is ready," Tigh yelled as the CIC sprang to life readying weapons and preparing for battle. "Full reverse – get some space – launch ready Vipers and vector in the Viper CAP." He continued giving orders.

"Belay that!" Adama commanded, sounding authoritative and somewhat annoyed. "If they wanted to fire on us, they would have already. They just de-cloaked…they're clearly more advanced than us. Get Dr. Baltar up here right away." Commander Adama didn't know who these people were, but he knew that Dr. Baltar would be able to help him make sense of the situation. As the senior scientist on this expedition, he had one of the more brilliant minds in the colonies, and probably the largest ego.

As soon as Gaius Baltar arrived, Commander Adama pointed the forward view camera screens showing the de-cloaked, kilometer-long ship and asked, "Dr. Baltar, I need your counsel. Can you tell me what kind of ship that is?"

Dr. Baltar found the ship both familiar and alien. Its hull type was not very different from a colonial design, with a protruding neck and two pods coming out either side. However, this strange ship had no launch tubes for fighters or visible openings for landing bays. In addition, underneath the ship was an odd-looking rotating cannon of some kind.

"Definitely different, Sir, but I can't tell much from just one look," Baltar intoned dryly.

"The ship just de-cloaked. It's been sitting in front of us for ten minutes and we couldn't see it on DRADIS or visually," Tigh responded in his most annoyed tone.

"That changes things, Sir. They're obviously quite advanced. We've been experimenting with the idea of a cloak, but the energy requirements are so large right now that it makes no sense."

"It looks like they have gun turrets along their bow and some sort of weapon below the ship, although I don't know what it does. Might be formidable but I couldn't tell you a lot without seeing it in action."

"Could we meet them? That might help us get more information. They haven't fired on us, so they might be friendly." Dr. Baltar asked expectantly.

Adama consented. "_Enterprise_ this is _Gallactica_…you surprised us there. Please state your intentions. We are extremely close and not comfortable with the space between us," Adama sounded as surprised about the sudden appearance of the ship as he felt.

"Sorry about that. That was my fault. I didn't realize we were still hidden. I would like to meet to get better acquainted. Is that possible?" Caldwell asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Yes, Colonel. We can definitely meet. If you would like, we can meet here on my ship. Does twenty minutes work for you?" Adama suggested.

"That works for us. We'll come by shuttle." Caldwell stated.

"I will have a Viper meet you and escort you in. Is that acceptable?"

"That would be acceptable. See you soon. _Enterprise_ out," Caldwell said as he cut the connection.

"Major Young, I need you and a team of Rangers for a security detail." Caldwell spoke to The Ranger commander through his radio.

"Yes, Sir. I can have a team ready in five minutes," Young responded.

"Perfect. Meet me in the hangar bay. We're taking a Jumper over to the _Gallactica_," Caldwell informed him.

Caldwell headed to the hangar bay at the back of the ship. What most people did not know about these new Enterprise-class ships was that the pods on the sides of the ship were not for fighters and Jumpers, but for a new Tauri-built Drone launcher. The Drones they built were not as good as the Alterran drones, but they were still deadly. The hangar bay on the _Enterprise_ was small – built for just six Jumpers. It was, essentially, luxury space. Between the transporter system and the Drones, there was very little need for fighter ships. It also helped limit the amount of technology visible in first contact situations.

Stepping into the hangar bay, Colonel Caldwell was not surprised to find Major Young and five Rangers in full combat gear, ready with handheld P-90s and holstered Zats. What did surprise him, though, was Dr. Amanda Perry waiting with the Rangers. "Dr. Perry, I didn't know you were still here. I thought you were planet-side with Dr. Rush?" Caldwell inquired.

"He didn't need me for the initial survey. Besides, though I am a physicist, my other loves are linguistics and history. I was hoping I could come with you. I think I could be of some help if there are any language issues, and of course an extra set of eyes on their technology," Dr. Perry pleaded.

"That will be just fine. We had one more seat in the jumper anyway," Colonel Caldwell acquiesced as they all boarded through the back of the Jumper.

With Major Young acting as the pilot, the journey was fairly uneventful. Starbuck met them halfway from the _Enterprise_ and escorted them to the starboard hangar bay on the _Gallactica_. Caldwell and his team were impressed by all of the people moving around on the flight deck. It really did closely resemble the hangar deck of a modern aircraft carrier.

_We will have a ship like this someday,_ Colonel Caldwell promised himself as he watched the major land the ship softly on the deck.

XXXXXXXXX

Battlestar _Gallactica_: Fifteen Minutes Earlier

XXXXXXXXX

"Get a team of marines down to the starboard flight deck. Colonel, have the crew chief clear the deck on that side. We don't need them to see all our clutter," Commander Adama said to colonel Tigh. The CIC quickly sprang to action as everyone moved to prepare the ship for this meeting of unknown importance. Saul was convinced these people were actually strangers; after all, their ship did look a lot like a colonial Destroyer.

"Starbuck, I want you to meet them and guide their ship onto the deck. While you're at it, check out their ship and tell me what you see," Colonel Tigh ordered.

"Yes, Sir. We'll be back in a minute," Starbuck answered as she left the room and made the short trip via small transport carts to the hangar deck.

"Chief, I need to go meet our guests. Is my ship ready?" Kara asked the moment she came through the hatchway leading onto the main flight deck. She was only twenty feet from her Viper, so she started her pre-flight walkthrough while the chief came over to check the paperwork for the fighter.

"Everything is in order; you should be good to go. Bring her back in one piece, Starbuck," the chief said, mostly out of habit.

"Oh, Chief. This is an easy one. No Cylons here, so we should be good," Kara said as she climbed into her cockpit and was taxied into the launch tube. "Ready to go!" Starbuck called out to the launch officer with a salute. At her signal, the launch officer keyed the catapult system, shoving the Viper out the side of the ship and into space. While the launch system was rather abrupt, there was something about the sudden rush of speed that made Starbuck feel alive. Kara loved flying more than anything else in the universe. With the _Enterprise_ being so close to the _Gallactica,_ Kara only got one pass around the alien ship before she was alongside the shuttlecraft. Even in her brief survey, though, she was amazed at what she found. "_Gallactica_ Actual, this is Starbuck," she called to Lieutenant Gaeta.

"We read you loud and clear, Starbuck. Tell us what you see," he answered.

"At least twenty missile tubes along the top of the ship. It looks like upwards of thirty rail guns topside and I would bet that many again along the bottom of the ship. There are also what appear to be heavier cannons of some type both bow and stern on the top and bottom of the ship. Towards the front of the ship is a set of barrels, maybe two hundred meters long. Whatever they shoot is huge. I wouldn't want to be in front of it. The ship's hangar bay is on the back…Frak! I can see the shuttle bay, Sir, and the people working inside of it."

"Say again, Starbuck," Tigh asked as he, Adama, Gaeta, and Dr. Baltar listened intently along with everyone else in the CIC.

"They must have some sort of shielding technology, because their hangar bay is open to space and there are people working inside of it. Now I can also see the bridge, and it has windows. Amazing. This is obviously a warship, and definitely not colonial, Sir. We would never design this way."

"Copy that, Starbuck. What else do you see?" Adama answered quickly to encourage her to keep talking.

" I am on the far side of the ship now, and both side pods are too small to hold any sort of fighter or shuttle ships. Each of the pods has holes maybe three meters across and a dozen per side. I have no idea what they could be for. That's it, _Gallactica_," Kara concluded as she moved to meet up with the shuttle.

"Copy that, Starbuck. We'll see you in a minute." Gaeta turned off the communication line.

"_Enterprise_ shuttle, this is Starbuck. Do you copy?" Starbuck said as she switched frequencies and matched the shuttle's speed and bearing.

"We copy you, Starbuck. This is Major Young; thanks for the escort," Major Young answered.

"Keep on this heading and follow me as we dock," Kara said as she set them on course to land in the _Gallactica_ hangar bay.

"Quite a ship you have there, Major," Kara said, trying to start a conversation.

"Thanks. The _Enterprise_ is one of our newer ships," the major said as Colonel Caldwell listened.

It was an interesting experience, seeing the inside of the _Gallactica_ hangar bay as their Jumper moved into landing position just next to Starbuck's now-parked ship.

"Alright people, keep your eyes and ears up. This is a first contact situation, and I don't want us to miss anything. We can learn a lot from this situation," Colonel Caldwell instructed everyone in the shuttle just before he lowered the rear hatch so they could exit. Coming out first were two Rangers with weapons at the ready, followed by Major Young, Colonel Caldwell, and Dr. Perry. Trailing behind were the last three Rangers, on alert for any threats. As they exited, they found a small contingent of officers and a matching squad of soldiers dressed in full military dress.

Dressed in their finest uniforms, the Tauri group came forward to meet their hosts as the Rangers pulled off to the left and the lead officer of the _Gallactica_ welcoming party introduced himself.

"I am William Adama, Commander of the Colonial Battlestar _Gallactica_. To my right is my first officer Colonel Saul Tigh, next to him is Dr. Gaius Baltar, my lead scientist, and last in line is my CAG Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, whom you have already met," Adama introduced them all. He noticed that that each member of the newcomers' party had a different style of uniform, which struck him as both odd and important. He also noticed how confident and at ease their marines were, and guessed that they probably could give his own marines more than a little trouble if they wished. Finally, he saw that each of marines carried a rifle and two hand weapons and had very large knives attached to their vests. Very curious.

"I am Colonel Caldwell, Captain of the _Enterprise. _To my right is Major Young, Commander of our Ranger Battalion, to which these men belong." He motioned at the Rangers surrounding them. "Over there is Dr. Perry; she is one of our head scientists. It is a pleasure to meet you." Caldwell smiled in greeting as they all shook hands and looked each other over. Major Young noticed the other marines and the rather large-caliber rifles they were carrying along with slightly larger-than-normal handguns. He found in interesting that they did not carry knives and wondered what kind of hand-to-hand skills they taught their ground forces.

"On behalf of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, we want to welcome you to our ship. We would love to know more about you. You are obviously not from the Twelve Colonies and..." Adama stopped abruptly as he watched the Tauri people stop shaking hands and stare at Adama with an attention that startled him.

"Did you say Twelve Colonies of Kobol?" Dr. Perry asked with more than a little surprise evident in her voice.

"Yes Ma'am," he answered and was abruptly cut off by Caldwell before he could continue.

Colonel Caldwell explained, "We're very sorry; we did not realize there was a colonized planet in this system. If we had known, we would not have come in this way." Caldwell stopped as he saw how confused and surprised the Colonial Delegation looked.

It had just entered the minds of those aboard the _Gallactica_ that these Tauri could be the Thirteenth Colony from the old Scriptures.

"Are you the Thirteenth Colony?" Dr. Baltar asked abruptly as everyone else was still contemplating the idea the Thirteenth Colony might exist.

"No, we thought that this was your star system. This is the Kobol System, and we assumed that it would be the…" She started but was then interrupted again by Gaius Baltar.

"What do you mean? Are you saying the planet Kobol is here?" Gaius squeaked out. The members of the _Gallactica_ welcoming party stared at each other in shock and confusion.

"This system is what we call the Kobol System, and that is not necessarily the same one you have in mind. I think we have much more to talk about," Caldwell started slowly, also confused, and was interrupted again as the ship shook violently and his radio crackled to life.

XXXXXXXX

Kobol System: Outer Asteroid Belt, One Hour Ago

XXXXXXXX

Leoben felt very confused. He'd been in waiting for several hours, and the _Gallactica_ had not moved further into the system, nor had he seen any of the unknown ships. This system did have some very exotic materials in it, though, that were keeping him from scanning very far afield. The ship's Hybrid seemed to be sensing something nearby, but couldn't say anything specific, as was often the case with these Hybrids. However, Leoben knew that if he sent out Raiders, he would be discovered – an unacceptable course of action. It had been thirty-five years since a Colonial and Cylon had encountered each other, or so the Colonials thought, and he wanted to keep it that way. In a way, Leoben was glad for a little time because it helped him to get assets in place for possible action. If they had to shoot at the Colonials, he wanted to leave none alive. It was the only way that they could perpetuate their secrecy.

"Are the other ships in place yet?" He asked the Caprica-Six standing next to him.

"We already have five Base ships here. How many more of our brothers do we need to risk?" She admonished her overly aggressive brother .

"As many as it takes, Six. We can't risk our secrecy, and we can't risk the Colonials advancing too far ahead of us – in _any_ area," he retorted, a little annoyed.

"The other six Basestars are one jump away, shadowing the secondary and larger force of Admiral Cain. They will be ready if we need them," she responded.

"Good," he said both to her and to himself.

Sometimes he felt the more of his brethren he had around him, the better he felt about life.

Six broke into his thoughts. "We are picking up a new transmission from an unknown source to the _Gallactica_. It appears to be our unknown ship," she said with a questioning expression.

"Strange, though…I don't see the ship on our DRADIS, and I don't feel our fellow Cylons aboard the new ship. Where could it be?" He asked, somewhat rhetorically. "Source of the transmission is only a small distance from the _Gallactica_. Very curious," he added.

"They are now broadcasting their greeting in both Caprican Standard and four other unknown languages," Six noted.

"That does not make sense. Oh, wow!" He exclaimed as the unknown ship suddenly came into sight directly in front of the _Gallactica_.

"Is that a cloak?" Six asked, as she too was very surprised.

"It would appear so. They cannot be allowed to keep that technology. It could lead to our destruction," Leoben stated determinedly, to Six's obvious discomfort.

"We are getting the rest of their conversation now. It appears that they are arranging a meeting. They identified themselves as Tauri?" Six had never heard the name, and she wondered about it as she began to work the jump drive controls. "We will be ready to jump in two minutes," she informed Leoben.

"Good. Make sure the other ships are ready and put the second group on backup. Tell them not to attack Admiral Cain, but to come here. Let's overwhelm these two and, after that, we can chase Cain if we have to," Leoben ordered as Six and the few others in the Control Room carried out his orders.

Ten minutes later, everyone in the Cylon fleet was ready. All of their jump drives were ready and the missile tubes had been prepared. "I want our missiles launched immediately as we enter the battle. Surprise will be our best weapon," Leoben commanded his fleet. "All raiders need to launch one minute after we arrive, and I want Basestars focused on the new ship. It's smaller than the _Gallactica,_ but it is our only unknown, so I want the most firepower on it. Stack up some ships if you have to," Leoben said, as the next report came from the Six beside him.

"It appears the shuttle from the unknown ship, _Enterprise_ just landed on the _Gallactica_."

"Perfect. That means neither commander is at their ship's controls. We jump in two minutes," Leoben ordered.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Gallactica_

XXXXXXXXXX

The _Gallactica_ was violently shaken, interrupting the conversation between the Colonials and the Tauri.

"Sir, five large star-shaped ships just appeared around us and launched missiles," a voice yelled over Caldwell's radio as the colonel regained his balance from the apparent attack on _Gallactica_.

The PA system on the _Gallactica_ sprang to life as well. "Commander to the Bridge! Brace for imminent impact; missiles inbound" It screamed as Adama ran to the nearest phone and the rest of the crew sprang into action to counter the attack.

"What is happening?" Adama accused whoever was on the phone in an attempt to assess the situation. "What do you mean, five Cylon Basestars? How did we not see them coming?" He asked desperately. "Launch all Vipers and activate all defenses. I will be in the CIC shortly," Adama said as his composure resettled he assumed a deadly calm. "You are welcome to stay here, Colonel, but I cannot guarantee your safety. If we survive this, I will explain the situation, but right now we are both in danger, " Adama flatly informed the colonel as he invited Caldwell to join him.

"I need to get back to my ship. Can I leave my shuttle here?" He asked Adama, not really asking.

His radio came to life again as his second in command told him, "One missile got through, Sir. The Jumper Bay has been destroyed. Not sure on casualties."

"Commander, do you have anyone who can advise us? Can I take one person with me? My Rangers and Major Young will stay here to secure our Jumper," he added quickly as he noticed the Rangers and Major Young looking around at everyone readying the fighters for battle.

"We can do that, Sir. I'll take the Jumper out and support the Viper pilots," Major Young said, as much to inform the colonel as to ask him.

"Yes, take Baltar with you? But, how…" was all managed to say as he watched the colonel step close to Dr. Baltar and speak into his radio. They both disappeared in a flash of light. Adama stood stock still for a second as he attempted to process what he had just seen.

"Yes, Sir. We have transporters," Major Young said, snapping Adama back to reality.

"Thrace, get the Major our pilot frequencies and assign him a wing for now. Get him into the fight," Tigh ordered as he followed Adama out of the hangar deck and back to the CIC.

"Move out with the Raptors, Major. Follow my friend here; her name is Boomer. You'll be her wingman for this Frak-up," Kara instructed as she, too, moved off in the direction of her assigned Viper so she could join the fun.

"Mr. Gaeta, get the drives spun up just in case, and get Admiral Cain on the line. We need her here now!" He said as he entered the CIC and saw the plot table alive with Raiders and Basestars, while his fighters were just joining the fray. "This is taking too long, people. Get your composure and let's move with a purpose." He watched as everyone paused for a moment to take a breath, then dug in for the fight.

"Saul, where are we and what are they doing?" Adama asked, seeing that Tigh was sizing up their tactical situation.

"It looks like the Raiders are putting us in a holding action and attacking the _Enterprise,_ Sir. She's trailing smoke from at least one shot to her backside. Radiological alarm is up for the five Baseships bearing down on her." Saul began to realize their fate was all but sealed.

"_Gallactica_ Actual, this is _Enterprise_." Caldwell's voice came over the radio.

"We hear you; you have five Cylon Baseships bearing down on you. We detect at least three radiological's. How can we help you?" Adama asked, almost pityingly, as he had seen what these kind of surprise attacks produced.

"We see the Baseships; if you could handle the fighters, we are going to punch our new friends in the mouth. Talk to you in a minute." Caldwell sounded fierce even through the radio.

XXXXXXXXX  
_Enterprise_

XXXXXXXXX

"Two to beam out," Caldwell said as the transporter de-materialized them aboard the _Gallactica_ and re-materialized them onto the bridge of the _Enterprise_.

"What the Frak!" Dr. Baltar screamed, as he was ready for neither being assigned to help the Tauri nor to disappear.

"Sorry about that, Dr. Baltar. What do you know about these people?" Caldwell was in a hurry as he issued orders to the bridge crew and took a sitrep from the XO.

"They're Cylons. Their ships are Basestars, and each one is more powerful than our Battlestar's," he started and was abruptly cut off by the colonel.

"Arms and armaments, no time for the other stuff, Doctor." Then, to his men, "All ahead full; let's get a little space, Sergeant. Ops, are the Asgard beams up? The plasma cannon?"

"Asgard beams in twenty seconds Sir. One minute to plasma, with a shot every thirty seconds after that."

"Sir, shields holding at 98%."

The ship rocked from multiple missile detonations on the shields.

"Were those last two nuclear?" Caldwell asked his weapons officer.

"Yes, Sir. Low yield…maybe three megatons."

"Okay, then, bring us to bear on the closest ship and target forward Asgard beams," Caldwell ordered them to move towards the Baseship in front and above them. Two ships moved off to their right, one above and the other below to concentrate fire on the _Enterprise_ while their two friends circled the battlefield ready to jump in where they were needed.

"Aim for the center section that connects the two halves of the star shapes. That's where they're most vulnerable," Dr. Baltar interjected from where he was now seated at the back of the bridge.

"_Gallactica_ Actual, this is _Enterprise_," Caldwell said into his chair microphone.

"We hear you; you have five Cylon Baseships bearing down on you. We detect at least three radiological's. How can we help you?" Adama's voice came across the radio. Baltar could hear Adama's resignation, which scared him a bit.

"We see the Baseships; if you could handle the fighters, we are going to punch our new friends in the mouth. Talk to you in a minute." He turned the radio off and began issuing commands. "Fire forward Asgard beams at the lead ship. Aim for the middle of that X," he said, pointing to the cross-section of the approaching Basestar.

Dr. Baltar watched in amazement as four beams of yellow light emanated out from the front of the _Enterprise_ and simply disintegrated the inner section of the first Baseship. The explosion was impressive as the Tylium stores in the upper half of the ship ignited and the bottom half rebounded off of the shockwave and was propelled downward. The bridge crew let out a small cheer at the destruction of the first Basestar, and Dr. Baltar stood with his mouth open for only a second.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Gallactica_

XXXXXXXXXX

"We see the Baseships; if you could handle the fighters, we are going to punch our new friends in the mouth." Caldwell sounded a little like an angry wolf, and the CIC of the _Gallactica_ simply didn't know what to make of it. Fighting against five Basestars, the battle normal reaction would be to turn tail and get out while it was still possible.

"They are crazy," Tigh stated rather matter-of-factly as they watched from the forward cameras. Three nukes impacted the _Enterprise_ and she came out the other side with a strange orange glow around her.

"Are those shields?" Adama asked as he watched the _Enterprise_ shake off a shot that would have crippled or destroyed anything but the largest Battlestar.

"_Pegasus_ is two minutes out, Sir, along with her escorts," Mr. Gaeta called out.

"All Vipers away, engaging Raiders momentarily!" Thrace's voice came over the radio.

"We have to get in there!" Colonel Tigh pleaded.

"We will, but we need to survive until our other ships arrive," Adama stated flatly.

Suddenly, the front of the _Enterprise_ erupted into four yellow beams of light that tore through the center of the closest Basestar, igniting its Tylium and tearing it apart.

"What was that? Frak me!" Tigh swore as Adama quickly made course correction to put them in firing range of one of the circling Basestars.

"Those two are trying to concentrate their fire," Tigh observed. They all watched two Basestars, stacked on top of each other, concentrating all their cannon and missile fire on the smaller _Enterprise_ and her glowing aura of a shield. To their amazement, the _Enterprise_ turned upwards to move above the Basestars and take the broadside, a suicide move for any Colonial ship.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Enterprise_

XXXXXXXXXX

"First Basestar neutralized, Sir. Plasma cannon now ready, Barrels primed and sabots ready to reload, Sir," the weapons officer stated.

"Good. Let's get above those two attempting to broadside us. Helm, I want you to put us on top of them and I want to line up the plasma cannon to take a downward angle shot. Top down." Caldwell was unsure whether he had communicated the concept well enough. "Sergeant, think of it as climbing a hill and doing a handstand at the top. Let's see if they're tougher than an Ori ship." Finally, he was satisfied with his explanation.

The _Enterprise_ moved gracefully along the edge of the two Basestars and then seemed to hang in space, as the rear of the ship rotated around the front. Meanwhile, the shields took a beating.

"Shields down to 75%, Sir," an officer called out from behind the command chair.

"Fire plasma cannon!" Caldwell yelled. Shortly after that, the _Enterprise_ shook slightly as a super-heated plasma slug roughly the size of a mid-size SUV sped down the barrel on the underside of the _Enterprise_. As it exited the barrel, it looked like a small sun speeding towards the first Baseship. It struck the Baseship a few degrees off-angle, but it was centered enough to tear cleanly through the top section and central hub of the first Baseship, down into the second Baseship. The plasma slug entered the second Baseship far more off-center than the first, but still with enough force to punch clear through the top section of the second Basestar, and finally lodged in the bottom half of the second ship. The now kinetically depleted plasma slug did the only thing it could do: burn through whatever it was in contact with.

With the first plasma round expended, the barrel under the _Enterprise_ began to rotate as the next round was loaded and the _Enterprise_ righted herself to find her next target.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kobol System: Cylon Lead Baseship

XXXXXXXXXX

"Second wave is two minutes out and holding," the Six said to Leoben as she readied the missiles in all of their ships.

"Jump in thirty seconds. I want one Basestar in a frontal attack on the new ship while two Baseships stack up and flank them and the other two circle the battle and wait for openings," Leoben instructed both his command center and the other four Baseships in their small fleet. "All Raiders are to launch as soon as the jump is complete, and I want every tube emptied within two minutes of jump." Then, to the Six, he commanded, "Let your fellow Six on the outer Baseship know that if something happens, she is to take command. Jump in five, four, three, two…"

"Raiders away. First missiles away," Six said as the ships finished their jump. The first shots were successful as the _Gallactica_ took several missiles to the starboard side and the _Enterprise_ took at least two missiles to the rear, in what they suspected was a fighter bay, even though it did look a little small. They were suddenly perplexed, though, as the _Enterprise_ was immediately enveloped in a fishbowl-like bubble that none of their missile could penetrate.

"Increase rate of missile fire and focus exclusively on that new ship," Leoben yelled angrily. "Engage nuclear weapons as well."

"Very well," the Six answered. She watched in surprise, then horror, as the new ship aggressively approached the first Baseship in their formation and four hot beams of light shot out and nearly disintegrated the Basestar acting as the hammer to the anvil of two stacked ships. "Raiders are taking heavy losses; we can't keep this up. We need the second group!" Six called out. As they both watched, the unknown ship begin to climb above them, exposing her underbelly to the broadside of the two Baseships.

"What is that thing under the ship?" Leoben asked as they plasma cannon came into clear view and began to glow from the heat the barrels required to fire. "It looks like a weapon. Empty all missile tubes and no nukes. That ship is too close for them right now. Tell the second gr.…" Leoben didn't get to finish as the superheated plasma slug burned right through his control room. He didn't get to see as the slug passed through the rest of his ship and into the lower ship, destroying both completely.

Watching from one of the circling Basestars, the other Sixes were horrified to watch their brothers destroyed so easily. They all knew that this battle was lost and that committing six more ships to this fight would only lead to more losses. The lead Six gave the next order. "We need to retreat. Tell the second group to wait for us at the egress jump location."

She finished, and one of her sister responded, "Jump drive ready in one minute and ten seconds." As she spoke, she watched another three Battlestar's and five Gunstars appear in the fight, immediately surrounding the other remaining Baseship. Her sister ship would not last long.

To make matters worse, within a minute, the other ship's jump drive was knocked offline, leaving the Sixes' Basestar the only ship capable of informing the Cylon home world of this new, powerful race of humans. With thirty seconds left, she knew her only option was to turn and run from the ship that was now pursuing them. The question was, could she run fast enough?

XXXXXXX

_Gallactica_

XXXXXXX

"Thrace wasn't kidding about that weapon. My Gods," Tigh echoed everyone's surprise watching the _Enterprise_ flip itself upright and fire a massive round that resembled a small sun smearing the sky and crashing through one Basestar and into the second. "They could hull a Battlestar from stem to stern with that thing." Tigh watched with wonder as the barrel that had fired the round began to rotate.

"_Pegasus_ and her team are thirty seconds out," Gaeta called out to prepare the CIC for their upcoming fight.

"The circling Basestar is coming into range now. The _Pegasus_ and _Atlantia_ will drop in right behind the Basestar's position," Tigh informed them as the flak cannons on the _Gallactica_ sprang to life. The _Gallactica_ and her two Gunstars together could match a modern Basestar, but in a few seconds the match would be over.

"_Enterprise_ is pursuing the last of the Basestars," Gaeta said.

"_Enterprise,_ this is _Gallactica_. Be aware that six of our friends are showing up in ten seconds. They will be expecting to destroy our friend here," Adama warned those he hoped were his new friends aboard the _Enterprise_. He definitely hoped they weren't enemies.

"Thanks for that. We have one more on the way as well. We see six more Baseships nine light years out. Be ready," Caldwell answered.

Colonel Tigh wondered at how they could know that.

"Understood, _Enterprise_. _Gallactica_ out," Commander Adama said as the _Pegasus_, _Atlantia_, and four more Gunstars appeared on the other side of the approaching Basestar. "Engage all guns, launch missiles," Adama commanded.

"Engaged, Sir. Missiles away. _Pegasus_ and _Atlantia_ are doing the same," Gaeta responded. The _Pegasus_ and _Atlantia_ bored heavily into the offending Baseship. It was only minutes before it broke up and exploded.

"_Gallactica_ Actual, this is _Pegasus_ Actual, who is that other ship pursuing the last Basestar?" Admiral Cain asked over the radio.

"_Pegasus,_ this is Adama. That is the _Enterprise_. They are new friends, and I have reason to believe they might be the Thirteenth Colony. When this is over we can all meet and discuss that."

"Sounds good. I can send my Gunstars over to help them then," Cain stated.

"There's no need. They've already destroyed three Basestars. This last one shouldn't be an issue." Even as Adam spoke, yellow beams of light lanced out towards the last Baseship. One beam struck the ship at the edge of one of the star points, shearing off part of the star shape while the rest of the ship disappeared in a flash of light. At the same time, a strange purplish cloud appeared behind the _Enterprise_ and out of it came a smaller ship of a similar design, which quickly moved alongside and then around the _Enterprise,_ attempting to fully destroy the last Baseship before it finally disappeared.

XXXXXXXX

_Enterprise_

XXXXXXXX

"_Odyssey_, this is Colonel Caldwell. I could use a little help," Caldwell informed his friend, who had been coming their way since the _Enterprise_ had been attacked.

"Of course, Colonel. We'll be there in thirty seconds. Where do you want us?" Colonel Chekov answered as the _Odyssey_ raced to the aid of her sister ship.

"You can come behind and around us to get at this last ship. I want to pursue the other six ships that are further out, and I will need you here to maintain security while we're away," Caldwell decided as they were closing the distance to the last Baseship in the battle.

"Are you sure? We can pursue those other ships; you appear to have taken damage."

"Yes, I want them taken out. I have some Mark IXs onboard, and the plasma cannon is very effective with these ships. They shouldn't be a problem," Caldwell retorted and gave another order. "Weapons, fire Asgard beams at the last ship, aim for the center mass again." As the beams shot out at the Baseship and the _Odyssey_ appeared and began to add her fire, the offending Baseship disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Caldwell asked no one in particular as he stared at the space now empty, except for the small chunk of the Baseship that had been sheared off by one stray Asgard beam.

"That was a form of FTL. It's a point-to-point transportation system. How does your FTL work?" Dr. Baltar desperately wanted to know.

Caldwell ignored him. "We need to get these other ships quickly. Colonel Chekov, we will need your help."

"And you will have it. We're ready when you are," Colonel Chekov answered.

"Right. First, I need to speak to our new friends. Dr. Baltar, would you like to come with us on our little trip?" Caldwell asked as he turned to look at Dr. Baltar.

"Yes, Sir. I would like to see your FTL," he said.

"Wonderful. Ops, open a channel to the _Gallactica_."

"Ready, Sir."

"_Gallactica,_ this is Colonel Caldwell."

"What can we do for you? Have you sustained any damage?" Commander Adama responded.

"We took a few missiles to our Jumper bay, but we'll survive. Both the _Odyssey_ and _Enterprise_ will be pursuing the other Baseships we told you about; we shouldn't be long. I have a surprise for them I'm sure they will remember. Oh, and Dr. Baltar would like to join us if that's all right," Caldwell said, hoping it would be.

"That won't be a problem. Your…'Jumper' and Rangers are welcome aboard the _Gallactica_ until you return. My commander, Admiral Cain, would like to meet you once all of this is finished," Commander Adama added.

"That would be great. If you want to move further into the system, we have another ship orbiting the third planet. The _Normandy_ is aware of your presence and our situation. Can we expect to see you there in eight hours?" Caldwell asked.

"I have to consult with Admiral Cain, but I expect so. If not, we will be in the near vicinity."

"We'll see you soon then."

Both Tauri ships gained speed and opened one large hyperspace window, through which they quickly disappeared.

"What is this 'Gate Buster' you mentioned?" Dr. Baltar asked as he realized they were now moving faster than light towards the six other Baseships, plus the one that escaped the last battle, and the danger of the situation they were moving into began to take shape in his mind.

"Think of them as a little piece of Hell. The nuclear bombs they used on us were in the three- to five-_mega_ton range, and our Mark IX is in the three- to five-_giga_ton range. A few of them can level all life on a planet," the sergeant at Ops said a little too cheerfully, and Dr. Baltar quietly wondered who these people really were and what the Colonies could be in for if they upset their new "friends."

Authors note:

This one has taken longer than the other two, but I hope you enjoy it. This is the first chapter with some real action, but don't worry, much more is to come. I am planning at least twelve chapters so far. Let me know what you think. The next chapter might take a full week or just over that because of scheduling. Thanks

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4: Synergstic Tendencies

**Synergistic tendencies**

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Kobol

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"Whenever you're ready, Dr. Rush," the transportation specialist said as he sat at his station in the transportation bay of the _Normandy_. Dr. Rush and his forward team would be the first to beam down to the planet Kobol along with their first round of vehicles and equipment. After Colonel Caldwell and the _Enterprise_ had moved off to investigate something at the outer edge of the solar system, it was decided that all teams would leave orbit by way of the _Normandy'_s transportation rings. These were not your standard rings, either; measuring a hundred meters across they could drop in a whole cavalry squadron or a battalion of infantry into a battle zone. They could also evacuate many refugees at once if need be. Today, though, they were being used to start the Tauri expedition on Kobol.

With the familiar whoosh of rings transporting down to the planet below, Dr. Rush and his forward team landed a hundred meters from the Stargate that they believed their SG teams had come through when they had disappeared.

"Dr. Zelenka, you and your team stay here and figure out the Gate problem. Report back to me as soon as you figure out what happened to the Gate and where our people have gone," Dr. Rush ordered as he motioned for his team to board their Humvee and move off in the direction of the spires of far-off cities they could see in the distance below the snow peaked mountains. Dr. Rush continued, "Colonel Patton, please contact me once you have a location for our first base camp. If we can get close to those spires in the distance and still keep a clean route to the Gate, that would be ideal." He led his team off at a deliberate speed through the woods and over the hill to find what awaited them.

"Let's get a good look at that DHD," Dr. Zelenka said as he and his team began their work on the Kobol Gate. At first glance, the DHD looked fairly normal. Once Dr. Zelenka made it around to the front of it, though, it was plain to see that the device was not Wraith in origin like he had initially thought, but was probably Ancient in design and definitely was not a short-term modification. It looked like a simple metal strongbox except for the long cables snaking out from the box to the device control board. "This is definitely not a new device." Dr. Zelenka grimaced as he attempted to pry open the cover of the device. "There we go. What have we here?" The box opened and revealed its insides and control crystal interface. Dr. Zelenka quickly found the correct control crystal, removed it, and replaced it with the interface crystal and cord to his laptop and the network node he had removed from his rucksack. Now that the world knew about the Stargate Program, a lot of the previously unavailable resources could be easily acquired. One of those resources was an increased ability to network and work with their computers. Dr. Zelenka and his fellow scientists could now all work on an issue together from their own laptops and the results were markedly better. "I see where they went now. Can one of you get the Gate addresses from the DHD buffer downloaded? I will then purge the database and we can remove the device and start sending people through the Gate normally," Dr. Zelenka instructed his team.

While they were downloading the buffer and isolating the last two Gate addresses, he took some time to look at the device's system information and learned that the natives of this planet – possibly Ancients – had installed this device. It was a mystery that he would have to discuss with Doctors Rush and Weir – a mystery that could be very important.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rush and his team traveled quietly through the massive forest. They had never seen trees this large before. Scraping the sky, lining the path on both sides some of the trees were more than six hundred feet tall and wider than a four-lane freeway. This natural phenomenon was so breathtaking, it actually awed him a little. He couldn't help but wonder if this had been what it was like for the first settlers of Oregon and California. After about an hour of driving, they finally cleared the thickest stretch of trees and got their first real view of the valley beyond the hill. This too was breathtaking. Scattered from one end of the valley to the other were ruins from what was obviously a battle of some sort that had left a very advanced city in ruins. Off to their right they could make out a large structure of some kind that looked like it had been a central hub for the city. And at the far end of the valley, there were identifiable ruins of a city ship. Still, though, the spires they had seen earlier were off in the distance past the next hill on the far side of the valley. They drove on.

"There will be time for this later; we will get to all of it eventually, People," Dr. Rush called to his team spread out behind him in their vehicles. He was sure they all wanted to get out and sort through some of the debris and remains of whatever civilization this was.

That was when he noticed it: his first sighting of Alterran writing since they had arrived. It looked like a simple road sign of some sort lying at the side of the road barely legible from years of wear, but it was definitely ancient. He also noticed a hatchway or door that was by itself in the ruins. It looked almost untouched by all of the chaos around it. It was just a man-sized hole in the ground, topped with a door. "Someone please mark this hatch so we can come back and study it later," he ordered the convoy. He thought it might be important to keep track of. The last vehicle in the fleet confirmed it was marked as they passed by.

While the last valley held a lot of interesting things for them, what they saw in the next valley was even more interesting. Human remains joined the ruins in this valley, littering the old decaying structures and plazas that defined this area as a meeting place. Most astonishing of all were two distinctly uninhabited and unblemished Alterran city ships on either side of them. Both were properly grounded and even looked as though they had been built directly into the ground. While the rest of the area around them was overgrown and full of small trees and old brush and grass, there seemed to be no overgrowth or time wear on either city ship. It was almost as though someone had been watching over these structures.

"Team two, move towards the ship on the right. Report back every hour on the hour on what you find," Dr. Rush commanded as the last half of their convoy moved off to the right. Turning to the left, Rush again saw the old, worn road sign with the Alterran writing that was barely visible.

"It's okay, Captain; we can drive right onto the piers as far as the path leads. These piers were designed to land Aurora-class ships, so they can hold our Humvees without a problem," Dr. Rush told his Ranger driver who was also acting as commander for the security platoon that was accompanying each of his forward science teams. Rush could see clearly that this city was different from Atlantis. For one thing, they had to keep maneuvering around cannon emplacements that were dotting the pier structure. After ten minutes of driving the Humvees across the pier, they reached the atrium that would lead them into the bowels of the city and, ultimately, to the Control Room where they could find out what had happened to the civilization and if these ships were useable anymore. "You two, take three Rangers with you and make your way to the ZPM room. Keep in regular contact. I want this ship powered up as quickly as possible," Rush said to two members of his science team as they moved off towards their destination with three Rangers in tow. "Captain, follow me. We have a ways to go." Rush's radio crackled with static and Dr. Zelenka's voice came through.

"Dr. Rush this is Zelenka."

"Yes? What do you know so far?" Rush answered with a scowl.

"We have the Gate address where our other teams were sent, but it appears to be quite a ways away."

"Okay…." Dr. Rush impatiently waited for Zelenka to get to the point.

"What we also found, though, is that this device appears to have a use here on the planet," Zelenka said, more as a query than a statement."

"Okay? What do you need from me?" Rush answered brusquely.

"Have you seen any other Gates yet? Anything else that might explain some sort of Gate-networking device?" Zelenka asked.

"So you think it's a networking device for Stargates. Have you seen one of those before?" Rush inquired.

"No, but it makes sense that they would have something like that on their more populated planets to ease travel. "

"Yes, that does make sense. We have seen four city ships so far: two intact and two in ruins. I would bet that they each have their own Gate. When we get to the Control Room of the city we are in, I'll let you know if that bears out. Can you disable the forwarding protocol without damaging the networking device?" Rush asked.

"It may take some time but I think that shouldn't be a problem. I will know better once the program finishes downloading. Can I call you back in an hour? I'll know more at that point."

"That's fine. We will need to check in with Dr. Weir soon as well," Rush finished as he thought about what he would tell her. He knew this was a vital mission and the _Enterprise_ was not here with her other ships, so whatever they could do to get these two ships airborne would be a boon.

As the small group of scientists and soldiers made their way down the hall, hoping to find the power room, they rounded a corner to the left and found an open door on their right that led directly into the power room. In the center of the room, a hip-high pedestal was perched, surrounded by open space. Like all things Alterran, the room was gracefully built and had stood the test of time. Along the wall were several consoles that they did not recognize, and other ZPM-shaped holes that clearly held no ZPMs. While the walls of the room were covered with these consoles (probably a dozen in all), on the far wall, opposite the door, was a rack or shelf of some sort covered in some sort of rough tarp. While the Rangers took up guarding positions at the door, the scientists entered the room and immediately began to investigate the ZPM pedestal at the center of the room.

"Dr. Rush, we are in the ZPM room. There are four slots for ZPMs in the center console here. It appears that the two in slots are…" The first scientist started to describe the room, but stopped as the second scientist erupted behind him with some colorful language and butted into the conversation.

"Dr. Rush! They have ZPMs! It looks like there are more than a dozen ZPMs on a storage rack at the back of the room!" The second scientist cried excitedly. "There are also consoles in this room we've never seen before. At first glance, it looks like this might double as a ZPM-generation facility," he added.

"Why don't you verify that, and go ahead and plug in a few of those ZPMs so we can get an idea of what shape this city is in while you're at it." Dr. Rush sounded a little excited himself.

"We'll have them online in one minute," the first scientist said as he reasserted himself.

Momentarily, panels and consoles around them lit up as the city sprang back to life. "Dr. Rush this is _Normandy_; we are reading some major power fluctuations planet side. Is that you?" The captain of the _Normandy _inquired via radio.

"Yes it is. We have powered up the first city. I'll signal you once we're ready for the other science teams to come down. We still have a lot to study," Dr. Rush answered.

"Let us know if we can help," _Normandy_ answered.

Dr. Rush nodded as though they could see his head gesture and moved off further down the hall with his entourage in tow. Fairly quickly, he found the teleportation room they could take to the Control Room. Finding the console in working order, they entered the chamber and quickly reappeared in the Gate Room, which turned out to be an atrium very much like the one on Atlantis, complete with a Gate and all of the attending architecture. After making his was around the steps and up to the control consoles, Rush found the entire area powered up and ready to respond to his command. "It appears that this ship has some unique abilities," Dr. Rush noted to the other scientists. "If you look out of the balcony over there – " Dr. Rush pointed down the stairs and towards the balcony across the Gate Room. " – you will see a bloated pier with a rather large bubble. That is the drone production facility."

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare in surprise and amazement. "_Normandy,_ this is Dr. Rush. Do you copy?" Rush radioed the ship in orbit as everyone started to comprehend the ramifications of what they had just discovered. "I am ready to bring in the first science team. You may beam them into the Gate Room directly above and below my coordinates," Rush commanded.

"They will be ready in five minutes," _Normandy_ answered.

"Science team two, this is Dr. Rush."

"This is science team two. We are in the city, and it appears that we are without power. We have two depleted ZPMs and one spare that appears to be fully charged. I am in the Control Room, but I'm not sure if I should attempt to turn things on with just one ZPM," the lead scientist from the second team explained.

"Not a problem, Doctor. I have more than a dozen extra ZPMs here, and I think we have a way to make more now. Have your people waiting in the power room," Dr. Rush instructed curtly. "How many ZPMs do you need?"

"This city will take five, it looks like. Also, I believe that this ship may have shipbuilding capabilities; there's a large bubble structure covering the two far piers and I have people inside saying there are two Aurora-class ships under that dome. I don't know yet whether they are operational," he continued.

"That's good news. I will have the _Normandy_ send four ZPMs over to your power room right away."

As Rush stood at the primary control console, reading through basic systems information, he came across the long- and short-range sensors. He was surprised to find that not only did the sensors work but also that he could see much further than the orbiting ships could. It looked almost as though the signals were bouncing from some other sort of satellites he couldn't see. He also saw very distinctly that the _Enterprise_ was under attack by what looked like six unknown ships. Then the system asked if he wanted to "engage hostiles," and it gave a catalogue of all hostile ships currently engaged in battle. Quickly tapping the "No" on the screen, he decided he would have to come back to that later. For now he had to attempt to get these ships off planet just in case the _Enterprise_ couldn't hold off the hostiles.

"Attention everyone," Dr. Rush announced both over the P.A. system and into his radio. "_Enterprise_ is engaged in a fight of some sort at the edge of the system. We need to get both of these ships in the air as soon as possible and prepare whatever defensive systems we have, just in case the _Enterprise_ does not win the fight. I want everyone to check in five minutes from now. By then, I want both ships ready to launch." There was a lot of chatter once he finished, but they all understood the stakes were high. They simply could not afford for anyone hostile to find himself in possession of a city ship.

"_Normandy,_ this is Rush. Do you copy?" Rush called to the ship still in orbit.

"We copy you, Doctor. What can we do for you?" Commodore Missen answered.

"We'll be lifting these first two ships off of the surface in five minutes. Are you aware that _Enterprise_ has been attacked?" Dr. Rush asked the commodore.

"No, we were unaware. _Odyssey_ is moving to assist them now. Are you attempting to evacuate the two ships that you have?" The Commodore inquired. After waiting a breath, he added, "What is your operational status?"

"I should know about the second ship momentarily; my ship is fully operational and one hundred percent powered up. For some reason, this ship is almost untouched," Rush explained.

"I'll provide cover if we need it. Call me when the other ship is up and you are ready."

"Will do. Be aware that these ships are much better armed than Atlantis. We're looking at about two hundred plasma cannons, and it looks like upwards of three million drones. Oh, and this ship houses a drone production facility," Rush told Missen proudly.

"That's good news. Call me before you lift off," Missen said absently, obviously busy with other issues.

"Dr. Rush, this is science team two."

"Go ahead."

"We've got this ship powered up and we were right – it is an Aurora-class ship construction facility. It looks like this city was meant to stay in orbit, because these construction yards extend below the base of the city. We can enter orbit in the next five minutes, but we're not sure about the hyperdrive."

As he readied his ship to leave the surface, Rush responded, "No problem I think we can tow you in hyperspace. We are going to take these ships back to New Lantea and study them there."

Dr. Zelenka and his team had finished downloading all of the macros from the new device and had just decided they were ready to remove the device from the Gate to prevent anymore wormhole redirects when the ground started to shake and off in the distance, the spires of the two cities started to grow taller. Everyone turned to face the changing skyline with a little bit of wonder.

"Dr. Rush, this is Dr. Zelenka," Radek spoke into his radio as the first ship continued to rise into the air with the smaller structures and the bubble on one of the far piers becoming visible above the trees.

"This is Rush. I'm in the middle of something; I'll call you back in just a minute," Rush said, very focused on moving the ship into the upper atmosphere and making sure he avoided the other ship, which was beginning to lift off of the ground as well. Now that he sat in the control chair further inside the ship, his every thought was reflected by changes in the ship's systems, so it was vital for him to focus.

"Team two, are you airborne yet?" He asked, as the second ship appeared to stall.

"Yes, Sir. We had to get a new person in the control chair because I don't have enough of the Alterran gene," the lead scientist hurriedly explained.

Slowly, the two ships made their way into orbit, lifting gracefully through the atmosphere like two bubbles rising lazily in the afternoon breeze, turning slightly as they moved into stationary orbit, waiting for the outcome of the battle going on at the edge of the system.

"_Normandy,_ this is Dr. Rush." Rush reached out with his mind to examine the battle going on with the _Enterprise_ that had suddenly appeared as a hologram in the air above the control chair.

"This Commodore Missen. I see you are in orbit. I've let Dr. Weir know you are heading in her direction with two city ships. She said she'd clear space for the cities to land."

"Thanks for that. We'll come back through the Gate once we've safely landed these things. From the looks of things here, there's a lot more left on the planet that we need to study and could potentially use," Dr. Rush stated as he willed a swirling purple cloud to appear in space, large enough to fit both city ships into hyperspace.

"_Normandy,_ this is _Enterprise_," Caldwell said as he opened a channel to his other ship in orbit of Kobol.

"_Enterprise,_ this is Missen. We hear you. How are you? Can we render assistance?" The commodore asked.

"No, thanks. We did sustain damage to the jumper bay, but everything is under control. Colonel Chekov and I are going to be pursuing several rogue hostiles. We'll be gone for a few hours," Caldwell said with that same feral smile he had throughout the battle.

"Understood, Sir. We'll hold down the fort here, Sir. I'll have a full briefing ready when you return," Missen said.

"We do have one more thing to tell you; we have some new friends that I am sending your way. I believe they may be the descendants of the people of this planet, Kobol. They don't seem to be aware they are in their home system, though," he remarked.

"That's strange. How?" Missen asked.

"We don't know yet, but I will say they helped us fight these new enemies, so I believe they are trustworthy. They call themselves 'colonials' and it looks like they're heavily industrialized…they call these things that attacked us 'Cylons.'" Caldwell gave the commodore as much information as he could before he had to move on to other business.

"We'll handle things while you're gone," Missen said as the _Enterprise_ and _Odyssey_ disappeared into space on their way to find the rogues.

"_Normandy,_ this is Dr. Zelenka." A somewhat plaintive voice crackled over the radio.

"We read you, Dr. Zelenka, and we haven't forgotten you. Dr. Rush had to move those city ships out quickly. We had some trouble on the outskirts of the system and needed to evacuate. Things have calmed down now, so we're not in any danger," Commodore Missen calmly explained as planned the next step of the mission. "Dr. Zelenka, do you have the Gate ready to accept visitors?"

"Yes, Sir. I can have the device off of the Gate in five minutes. Right now we're trying to learn its secondary functions."

"Do we know yet where our missing SG teams have gone to?" Commodore Missen asked with a little frustration.

"Yes, Sir. We learned that very quickly. It was a simple Gate bounce from this Gate to another Gate on a planet that appears to be in the void between the Milky Way and Pegasus," Radek said offhandedly.

"Thank you, Doctor, but how is it possible for a planet to be void? I'm no scientist, but…" Commodore Missen inquired.

"Actually, very possible, Sir, and it's not just one planet; a whole solar system was probably shaved of one of the two galaxies on a near collision," Dr. Zelenka said in his best teacher voice. "It's probably a two day's journey from here. "

"Thank you, Doctor. I will be down in ten minutes. When I get there, I want us to dial New Lantea so I can give Dr. Weir a sitrep and see what she what she can do to help us."

"Thank you, Sir. We'll be ready," Dr. Zelenka assured Commodore Missen as the doctor made ready to separate the device from the gate.

XXXXXXXXX

_Galactica_: Edge of the Kobol system

XXXXXXXXX

"Welcome aboard, Admiral," Adama said, saluting his boss as she exited her transport newly arrived from the _Pegasus_.

"That battle went well. I am looking forward to your briefing," Admiral Cain said after she returned her subordinate's salute and she gestured to move the conversation towards a briefing room. After several minutes of hallways and gangways and ladders, they finally sat down in a fairly plush briefing room not far from the CIC of the _Galactica_. "Well, Bill, explain to me what happened, and how we went from 'holy frak!' to 'look at that!'" The admiral said in jest.

"It started with our arrival in the system and reception of a radio transmission…" the commander began a forty-minute recounting the events of the last few hours to the point that the _Enterprise_ disappeared into the hyperspace window.

"So Dr. Baltar is with them, wherever it is they went?" She asked to clarify.

"Yes, and I look forward to hearing his briefing when he returns," Adama confirmed. "Major Young has also made himself and his Rangers available to answer questions if you have any," Adama added.

"I'm sure we'll have background questions, but I think you are right. We should make our way further into this system. Continue to scout the system for resources; maybe these people can help us locate Tylium. They do seem to have excellent sensor technology," Cain said. "And if this planet is Kobol, it could be huge," she contemplated.

"Some people may not see this as a good thing. You know the prophecies," Adama stated grimly.

"Yes, hard to avoid, but if there is some technology left from the gods, it could help us a great deal."

Adama added, "We have to warn the Colonies. I will send a Raptor with enough stores and all of the information we have so far."

Not long after their conversation a pair of Raptors left the system on their way back to the Colonies, not realizing they would soon meet friends they definitely were not expecting.

XXXXXXXX

Unknown Space: Cylon Egress Point

XXXXXXXX

"Report damage!" Six shouted as alarms blared. It appeared that a section of the outer parts of the ship had been sheared off before their emergency jump to the egress point.  
"Alert all ships! We need to jump now on a return course to the home world," she said as she mentally reviewed the recent events. The six ships now around them had already begun to ask for and receive the information from the previous battle that had killed so many of their brothers. They were not very happy about what they saw.

"We must meet and discuss this situation," Six said over her the ship's communication system to her brothers and sisters. "We must meet on my ship in one hour. We can talk to the hybrid, maybe she will have some information we can use." She prepared a space for the meeting that would be taking place shortly. Quickly, the representatives of all of the other lines of human form Cylons boarded their heavy Raiders and transported to the meeting. With all seven of their ships in a circular defensive formation, they were conveniently positioned so that the ships' leaders could meet. They did not expect to see a strange purple cloud quickly form and then disappear, disgorging two large ships.

"Launch all Raiders and prepare all guns and missiles!" Six commanded the entire fleet. This was not good. All her fellow human form Cylons were in between ships and were simply not in a position to take part in this fight, leaving the centurions in charge of all but one of the Baseships.

"Sir, the two ships are no longer on DRADIS. We don't see them at all," a Cylon centurion said as he read the information on the DRADIS display aboard the lead ship. Unfortunately, his ship and the two others in his section of the defensive perimeter disappeared as a miniature sun appeared in the space that the lead Baseship had occupied an instant before. While the surviving human form Cylons watched in impotent horror, two more Baseships disappeared as a second sun suddenly appeared and then, just as suddenly, winked out of existence, leaving nothing but the Raiders from two other Baseships.

"Evasive action! I need you to locate those two ships!" Three shouted at her Cylon centurions as they quickly obeyed commands. "I want a circular fire pattern; if we can't find them, let's make a flak shield." She was obviously frustrated.

"Two ships now on DRADIS. They are now within visual range. One is firing," the centurion said. As they watched, both ships de-cloaked and the bigger ship fired a large weapon at the other Basestar. They watched in shock as a smallish sphere of light seemed to smear the sky as it raced at, and then through, the other Baseship, leaving it in pieces almost as though someone had cut the center out of a sea star and left the ends to float freely out in space away from each other.

The last Baseship was treated to a rare sight as the larger of the two ships began to engage the Raiders that had now assembled to attack en masse. Suddenly, strange white lights flowed out of the sides of the enemy ship and tore through the large formations of Raiders, much like a cloud full of locusts destroys everything in its path. As the last Three aboard a Baseship watched and attempted to evade the second ship, the Baseship was struck by two beams of hot energy and the ships simply exploded as the Tylium reserves were ignited.

XXXXXXXX

Unknown Space: Not Far from Cylon Baseship

XXXXXXXX

"So, Dr. Baltar, what do you think so far?" Colonel Caldwell asked to pass the time.

"Impressive. I am glad we are not on the opposite side of this fight. I know that these Cylons would gladly kill every last one of us if given half a chance. All forty-eight billion would not be enough for these things," Dr. Baltar answered as he watched hyperspace flow past the bridge as they transited between their last battle and the one upcoming.

"Did you just say your people are forty-eight billion strong? You have obviously never heard of the Wraith then." His statement was also a question.

"Who are the Wraith?" Dr. Baltar asked with more than a little curiosity.

"They are a race of beings that use humans as food. They inhabit most of this galaxy, and they periodically visit different planets where they gather food for a time. They are the ones who defeated the Ancients," Caldwell answered with resignation. "When we first came here, they had been sleeping for several hundred years. They are all awake now." Caldwell stopped, not wanting to say much more right now.

"Dropping out of hyperspace in two minutes!" The XO called out as they neared the location of the seven Baseships.

"Ready the mass cannon and bring the Asgard beams online and to full power. Let the _Odyssey_ know that we are to be ready as soon as we exit hyperspace," Caldwell said to his ops station. "Also, let the _Odyssey_ know that we should both cloak as soon as we exit hyperspace. If we can drop our Mark IXs on them without being seen, do it."

"Yes, Sir," Major Beckley said from the back of the room as he sat down in the drone control chair and activated his sensor array. As the XO of the ship, it was his duty to control the drone chair. From the drone chair, he could also act as the helm and weapons officer and issue commands to the rest of the ship if need be. Dr. Baltar stood to the side as all of this took place, quietly taking everything in.

"What's that for?" He asked the XO.

"This is a drone control chair. From here, I can control most ship functions and act as the second in command. The chair has a neural interface that allows for both mental and verbal control. It also has a holographic function that allows us to see the area of operation in real-time. Plus, you know the two pods on the side of the ship that looks like landing decks?" He tried to involve the doctor in the conversation.

"Yes. We wondered what those were for."

"They are full of drone weapons that I control from here. They eliminate the need for a lot of fighter craft," Major Beckley continued explaining.

"How? I don't understand," Dr. Baltar said with an undertone of incredulity. After all, he came from a line of more than a forty generations of scientists who created weapons for a specific style of war, and what Beckley said simply didn't make sense to him.

"You will see soon enough. If those Baseships have any fighter aircraft, it will be my job to make sure none of them get away."

"Dropping out in five, four, three, two…" As he counted down, the ships slipped surreptitiously out of hyperspace and disappeared from view as both ships cloaked and made their way towards the Baseships.

"Doctor, it looks like your estimation on their sensor range was a little off. They definitely saw us exit. They are launching their…'Raiders,'" Major Beckley said as nearly a thousand ships began to separate from their mother ships and make their way towards where the two ships had exited hyperspace.

"Then they have progressed further than we have," Dr. Baltar said with resignation.

"Those ships won't be a problem. I have around ten thousand drones, and since the hostiles have no shields, each drone should be able to get at least one kill a piece." The major sounded proud.

"Helm, take us around the right side of their formation. I want to circle right and the _Odyssey_ to circle left. We'll each drop our Mark IXs between two Baseships to use the full effect. Once they have detonated, we can use the confusion to circle and destroy whatever is left," Caldwell said to both ships' crews.

"We are starting our pass to the left now. See you in a moment," Chekov said as he signaled his Comm officer to cut the line and get ready to fire weapons.

"Dropping Mark IX; detonation in thirty seconds," the weapons officer called out.

"Shields to full!" Caldwell called out as they moved quickly from the drop site. "Brace for the shockwave."

"Detonation in ten seconds," said the weapons officer as he prepared the mass cannon to fire and braced himself for the bumpy ride.

In the dark of the void between planets, two suns appeared out of nowhere. The detonation of the two multi-gigaton warheads disintegrated five of the seven Baseships. The Raiders that survived the blast all looked on in horror as the same two ships that they had seen in the earlier fight reappear bathed in their golden-yellow bubbles.

"Blasts destroyed five of the seven Baseships, Sir," the weapons officer said as the _Enterprise_ de-cloaked and began to maneuver itself in front of one of the surviving Baseships.

"Deploy the mass cannon. We'll take this last Baseship. Major, you are cleared to launch drones," Caldwell ordered.

Dr. Baltar watched, by now only a little surprised as small squid-like objects exited the sides of the _Enterprise_ and began to race at incredibly high speed towards the roaming Raiders and heavy Raiders that were now all that was left of the Cylon fleet. He would have thought that these things were some sort of plasma weapon, except that they changed direction constantly, avoiding debris and weapons fire from the Raiders. "Dr. Baltar, that was good intel you gave us earlier. Every time a drone penetrates the center section of the Raiders, they immediately cease functioning," the major said thoughtfully.

"We always thought that's where their brains are. We'd know for sure if we can capture one of those ships," Dr. Baltar commented, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Sir, I think it would be best if we could capture one of those Raiders I destroyed, and maybe one of those larger heavy Raiders. Maybe the _Odyssey_ could do that for us," Major Beckley suggested to his superior as he watched the last of the Raiders die and the last five heavy Raiders attempted to evade the drones chasing them.

"That's an excellent idea Major. Let the _Odyssey_ know the plan. Let one go and keep the other," Caldwell started.

"Colonel, the five heavy Raiders all have life signs onboard. They read as human, sort of," the major interrupted.

"Really?" The colonel asked quizzically.

"Yes, Sir. I read twenty life signs in all. Shall I beam them to the brig for interrogation? There shouldn't be any interference," the major finished as he prepared to beam away the last of the Cylons.

"Yes, go ahead. Don't worry about letting any of them go, in that case, and have the _Odyssey_ capture one of each type of ship. We have some questions to ask these people," the colonel said as he stepped out of his command chair and began to make his way down to the brig. "Have the ship's doctor meet me at the brig. And, Dr. Baltar, can you join me. If these end up being some of your people, it might be good for them to see a friendly face."

"Yes, Sir," Dr. Baltar said as he fell in behind Colonel Caldwell and received an impromptu tour of the Enterprise in the process.

"Hello. I am Colonel Caldwell of the Earth ship _Enterprise_," Colonel Caldwell said as he entered the brig and was surprised to find all of the people in the cells had twins standing next to them. There seemed to be seven distinct individuals that he could make out. "Doctor, are they clones?" he asked his chief medical officer, who had entered the room moments earlier and was quietly scanning their new prisoners to figure out what was going on. "Dr. Baltar, do you know any of these people?"

"No, Sir," Dr. Baltar said in a very confused manner. He did know several of these people, or people that looked exactly like them. He was still reeling from the idea that the tall blonde was the exact mirror of her assistant and new lover who had not accompanied him on this current trip. It was most disconcerting for a man who was used to being in complete control of every situation he was involved in.

"Sir, they definitely are clones, but it appears that they also have a lot of nanites in their systems. They're working in these people to an extent I've never seen before," the doctor muttered as he continued to scan them. "It also appears they're transmitting some sort of signal into subspace."

"Can we jam it?" The colonel immediately interjected.

"Yes, Sir. If you let the communications officer on the bridge know, we can jam the signal at will," the doctor answered, still engaged in taking readings from the prisoners.

"Make it happen, Doctor," the colonel said, annoyed. "I'll speak to these people now, Doctor. If you need to scan further, you can do that after we speak. "Which of you is the leader?" Caldwell asked.

"I am. I am a Six. And I can speak for all of us" A tall, beautiful blond woman moved to the front of the cell.

The colonel decided to be direct with her. "Are you a Cylon?"

"Yes. I am a human form Cylon. I would suggest you not hold us for very long, because our friends will come looking for you. And there are a lot of us," she said threateningly.

"Sir, it appears our computer systems are under attack!" The communications officer called over the intercom.

"Is it coming from this room?" Caldwell asked.

"Yes, Sir. It appears so. It's in a language I've never seen before, though, so the computer can't decipher it. Easily taken care of…I just thought you should know." The intercom switched off.

"You cannot infiltrate our systems, Six. Or whatever you call yourself," Caldwell stated, himself sounding threatening.

"We can, and already have, infiltrated your, and the Colonials', systems. It is only a matter of time before we figure out how to get into your systems for good…" She kept talking as Caldwell turned and walked out of the room.

"Doctor, I want you to keep working on them. Talk to them if you have to, but I need to know how to detect them. We'll keep one for questioning and then we'll send the majority of them back to New Lantea for interrogation. Dr. Weir can handle them," Caldwell said angrily.

"Yes, Sir. I think the tracking should be fairly easy. This many nanites is pretty hard to hide. I'll call you when I have something," the doctor said as Baltar looked on with a still-pale face.

"Can you give us the information once you have it? We were unaware of the existence of human form Cylons. This knowledge is vital." Dr. Baltar sounded very interested.

"Of course we'll share this information with you. First, we need to return to Kobol and meet with Commander Adama and Admiral Cain," Caldwell said as he walked over to an intercom attached to the wall. "Helm, set course for Kobol. I want us back as quickly as possible." He stepped away from the intercom to look directly at Dr. Baltar. "Now I want to know everything you know about these Cylons. Since we may have to fight them again, I don't want to be caught unaware next time."

"Of course," Dr. Baltar said as the colonel beckoned him to follow into the mess hall. They could talk while they ate.

XXXXXXX

Kobol

XXXXXXX

"Dial the Gate," Commodore Missen said as he approached the team from New Lantea. He had beamed down to the Gate site about ten minutes ago, but wanted to take a short look around. He had never seen the redwoods before, though he had seen them in pictures, and he found them remarkably inspiring now as the Gate came life and the spinning wheel started moving. The standard whoosh of the event horizon was still a bit of a shock to him. While he had been a ship's captain for a great many years, he had only recently been put in charge of a spaceship. Yes, he had gone through the training that all non-earth-bound people go through, but it was still amazing to him. They stepped over to the MALP that was still sitting beside the DHD and pushed the button to set up the communications system. The MALP offered them a screen, camera, and microphone so they could communicate with those on the other end.

"Dr. Weir? This is Commodore Missen of the _Normandy_," he greeted Dr. Weir as she came into view inside the Gate Control Room.

"Hello, Commodore, I didn't expect to hear from you. Is everything all right?" She asked, looking concerned. "Everything's okay. We've had some complications, though, and the _Odyssey_ and _Enterprise_ are off elsewhere, ridding us of some hostile alien ships. We also made some new friends. Has Dr. Rush arrived yet?"

"No. We did see two large vessels coming out of hyperspace, but they won't be here for a bit. We were just going on alert now," Dr. Weir said, and Commodore Missen noticed that she was wearing a flak vest and looked rather harried.

"Sorry about that. He had to leave in a hurry, but I can assure you those ships hold only Dr. Rush and his men. He's bringing two city ships. One has shipbuilding capabilities and is housing two Aurora-class Alterran battleships. We think the other has a drone and puddle jumper building facility," explained Missen.

"That's exciting; we will prepare areas for them to land right away. Are they fully powered?" She asked

"They are both fully powered. However, we need some assistance. We've encountered a new enemy and we could really use those two additional ships. We'll need them to patrol here while we investigate the planet where the two SG teams are."

"Not a problem. I'll have both ships staffed and ready within a day and heading your direction right away. Were the ships all you found? I know Daniel seemed to think Kobol could be a veritable treasure trove," Dr. Weir asked hopefully.

"There's definitely more. Dr. Rush can brief you on that after he lands. I do need him back, though, so if you could send him back through the Gate once you speak to him, I'd appreciate it," he said.

"Definitely. Oh, let Colonel Caldwell know that his promotion came through. When he's ready, we'll have a ceremony here for him. If he gives us a day's notice, we can have General O'Neil here to give him his flag and new rank," she added.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll congratulate him when I see him. And one last thing: we need a negotiator. Our new friends are from a rather heavily industrialized race and I think they could be a great help in fighting the Wraith. I'm also not sure they know about the Gate network."

"I'll locate someone and send them through in a few hours. If I can't find anyone, I will come myself," Dr. Weir assured him.

"That would be great. Talk to you soon," Commodore Missen said as the Gate deactivated and the clearing returned to its previous serenity and the commodore could only hear the branches of the trees moving in the wind.

"I think I'm going to explore. See you in a bit," Missen finally said to Dr. Zelenka as he and his aid made their way to the lone vehicle still sitting in the clearing, left over from Dr. Rush's group.

XXXXXXXXX

_Galactica_: Near Kobol

XXXXXXXXX

"Pulling into stable orbit in five minutes, Sir," Mr. Gaeta said as he watched the planet on the screen get larger. Then he added, "_Atlantia_ and the rest of the fleet are following suit."

"Good. Hail the _Normandy,_ Mr. Gaeta," Adama commanded as he watched the rest of the fleet follow behind in star formation. They took orbit following the _Normandy_ over the equator of this unknown planet. Since the admiral had given him operational control for this part of the mission, he felt a sense of urgency about getting them all to this planet. For some reason, he did not feel any mistrust at all for these new, unknown people. Something about how they reacted when attacked – and how friendly they had seemed initially – set him at ease. He would still have to be careful, he knew, but sometimes one had to trust those instincts. He picked up the hand piece from the communications console and waited for Mr. Gaeta to give him the go-ahead. "_Normandy,_ this is _Galactica_. Do you read?"

"This is _Normandy,_ we read you five by five. This is Major Beckley, XO. What can I do for you?" Beckley asked.

"We would like to speak to Commodore Missen. We were told to meet him here," Commander Adama requested with a little trepidation.

"He is currently planetside. You're welcome to shuttle down to the planet; it was his intention to meet you there. I'll inform him of your arrival. I'm sending you the coordinates for a meeting place right now," Beckley said quickly.

"Thank you; we will be planetside in one hour," Commander Adama said as he returned the hand piece to its place and motioned for Tigh to join him. "Alert the admiral, Tigh. I want three Raptors: one for you, myself, a few senior scientists, and the admiral. Then I want one platoon of marines in full combat gear, just in case. And I want Starbuck flying us down there. It's good to trust, but deadly to be unprepared," he said as he walked down the hall towards the hanger decks where his people would be waiting. "Oh, and let Major Young and his people know that they are welcome to join us or go back to their ship," he said to Saul as he began to make arrangements.

"This planet seems to have been heavily industrialized, Sir," Starbuck said to the commander in the co-pilot seat as they glided through the atmosphere, surveying the scene below them. It was obvious this place had seen war; scorch marks covered the face of the planet overgrowth obscured what was once a vibrant society. Here and there they could see still intact parts of cities and other odd structures.

"Look there, Sir. That looks like an intact city." Starbuck pointed down to what looked like a completely unmarred city that branched out in a sort of star formation with a large central tower.

"That looks like the city from the sacred scrolls! Olympus, maybe? My memory of the pictures from the kids' books is not all that great," Commander Adama said in response as he motioned for the admiral to come forward and look.

"Could it really be Kobol, William?" Admiral Cain asked. Cain was a deeply religious person, and the idea of them actually being on Kobol was both awe inspiring and a little scary.

Their Raptors landed quietly in the clearing in front of a vehicle transporting the commodore, along with the Puddle Jumper and Major Young and his team. As they landed, they were surprised to find some of the tallest trees they'd ever seen. And there was a strangely familiar circular structure sitting in the middle of the clearing. This was truly an amazing place.

"I am Commodore Missen," he said to the Colonial group as they exited their Raptor.

"I am Commander Adama. This is my XO, Colonel Tigh, and this is Admiral Cain, the leader of our expedition." He motioned to the other two in his party.

Starbuck came up from behind and stood next to Admiral Cain, then blurted the question everyone else was just thinking. "What is that?" She pointed at the round object in front of them.

"Don't you know about the Stargates?" Commodore Missen asked as he stared at Starbuck.

"I've seen something like this; they have one of these in the central temple at Delphi. It's a relic, though, from the time when we lived with the gods," Admiral Cain answered. She remembered seeing it their during worship many times.

"Well, you are about to learn differently," the commodore said as he motioned for everyone to move back. The circle began to light up and make strange sounds. Within seconds, the lights had stopped moving and a strange whooshing sound exploded from the ring as a gush of water-like liquid erupted out and mysteriously bounced back into the center of the ring.

"Nothing to be afraid of," Commodore Missen calmed the Colonial marines, who were responding to the phenomenon by readying their weapons. "This is a Stargate, or Chappa'ai, as some call it," Missen explained. Suddenly, the MALP sprang to life and Dr. Weir's voice came through.

"I have Dr. Rush, and we're coming through," she announced.

"Great. You are clear to come through. Be aware our new friends are here as well," Missen answered. To Commander Adama's amazement, people started to appear out of the puddle in the ring.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Elizabeth Weir. I am the commander of Fort Point and civilian head of all Pegasus operations," she said, offering her hand to Commander Adama and Admiral Cain.

"What is Pegasus? And what is that device you just came through?" Adama demanded.

"That's the Stargate. It was created ancient race called the Alterrans, and it's designed to allow instantaneous travel between two points in space. Basically, it makes going from planet to planet like walking from one room to another. And Pegasus is just what we call this galaxy; I'm in charge of all Earth operations here," Weir stated.

"Do you mean to say that you're not from this galaxy?" Admiral Cain asked, fully aware this was a silly question.

"Yes, Ma'am. We're from a neighboring galaxy. This is just one of several we've visited. We came here initially looking for a lost city and ended up embroiled in a war with an advanced race called the Wraith. They are a race of beings that use us as food. From your reactions I take it you have never had any dealings with the Wraith?" She inquired.

"Not that we know of. We are currently on a mission to locate resources and our enemy, the Cylons, whom you've already met," Admiral Cain said as she now took over the negotiations. "I am sorry to say that we don't have any negotiators aboard our ships, and the only civilians to speak of are scientists. I'm sure we can work out some sort of agreement, though, to begin relations between our two peoples," Admiral Cain offered.

"I would like that. For now though, I think we need to move. The Gate is about to activate again, and this time some vehicles are coming through," she warned as the gate began to spin. They all watched the event horizon appear again and the Humvees come through the gate and out into clearing. It took fifteen minutes for all the vehicles of varying sorts and sizes to file through the Gate.

"Is this a hub for your activities in this area?" Adama asked as they watched all of the vehicles go by.

"Not yet. The team you see coming by is one of our engineer battalions setting up a temporary camp for our science teams, who will be arriving shortly. That was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about." Weir turned to see Colonels Caldwell and Chekov appear, along with Dr. Baltar and Dr. Perry, who had all arrived just in time for the real negotiations to start.

"Hello again, Commander Adama." Colonel Caldwell smiled and shook hands with the commander.

"Thank you for returning Dr. Baltar. I trust he was a help to you," Adama returned the smile as Dr. Baltar went to rejoin the other Colonials.

"He was very informative, and he led me to believe we could be a great help to each other," Caldwell said as Dr. Weir silently turned the negotiations over to him.

"While we know the people who lived here as Alterran I believe that Dr. Baltar refers to them as the Lords of Kobol." Caldwell added.

"While we are not qualified to make a final decision on this matter, I will say now that, in principle, we are more than willing to partner with you. There is much to be learned and decided before any agreement can be finalized, though, and we far from home, so it will take some time," Admiral Cain pronounced.

"If you are willing, I would like to take one of our ships and one of yours and make our way to your home system so we can begin those talks. We are anxious to find allies, both in this endeavor and in the wider galactic conflict with the Wraith. I believe your people could have a leading role in this galaxy if we can come together and find ways to better each of our peoples," Dr. Weir said.

"I, too, would like that," agreed Colonel Caldwell, who was already sick of the politicking.

"We can provide coordinates for a few jumps, but past that we will have to match up our star charts to make any coordinates reliable. We're more than three weeks out from the Colonies, though," Commander Adama warned, already planning the journey home.

"I believe that if we can match our star charts now, we can all get home to the Colonies in a significantly lesser amount of time," Dr. Baltar said quietly to Admiral Cain. "If my observations were correct, their FTL drives are more advanced than anything we have seen before, and they can get us home faster than we could with our own jump drives."

"We can agree to that. We'd be willing to part with two Gunstars for now to escort one of your ships to the Colonies," Admiral Cain compromised. "I will have my XO escort them back to the Colonies while we stay here and scout out the rest of the system and learn what we can from the planet."

"Perfect. Colonel Chekov and I will meet your two ships in orbit and we can tow your two ships in space to make the trip a little faster. Have your XO contact the _Odyssey_ when they're ready. We'll be ready to meet him with our star charts in one hour. By the way, Colonel, congratulations are in order; your promotion came through. General O'Neill will see you tomorrow on New Lantea to award your new rank and flag. Congratulations, General," Weir said as she and Colonel Chekov disappeared in a flash of light. A split second later, they were aboard the bridge of the _Odyssey_, leaving the former colonel blinking in surprise at the unexpected promotion.

The rest of the party continued to discuss the terms of their planet sharing, while the _Odyssey_ and the two Gunstars began their journey back to the Colonies. Meanwhile, both the _Ajax_ and _Kronos_ were on their way to meet the _Enterprise_ in orbit around Kobol.

XXXXXXX

"Incoming wormhole!" Major Young shouted to his team of Rangers as the Gate began to dial. It had been a full day since the _Odyssey_ had let for the Colonies, and a lot had happened.

"Major, we're sending your people through. Stand down," General Caldwell said over the speaker system on the MALP that still stood guard beside the Stargate. The RED HORSE battalions had already set up temporary structures for everyone, but they had not started erecting permanent structures. That would come after an agreement from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

"Stand down, Men. We have friendlies coming through," Major Young ordered his men. Once the agreement was made, they would place the Stargate inside a more permanent structure and install an iris over the Gate to increase security. The major would be glad for that. As the first of the Colonials came through the Gate, he was surprised to see General O'Neill appear with the rest of the Tauri team that had left with General Caldwell to attend his promotion ceremony. They'd also given the Colonials a quick tour of an Earth facility to show them how serious the Tauri were about protecting the Pegasus Galaxy.

"General O'Neil, Sir, it's good to see you. We weren't expecting you." Major Young stood to attention and saluted the commander of all off-world forces.

"Major, thanks for your good work. I need your entire company here in twenty minutes, fully geared and ready to go. Also, let the Stryker team aboard the _Ajax_ know they need to be here in one hour. We're going after our people," the General said as he surveyed the team he had brought through the Gate. "Gentlemen, secure the Gate. Major Young and his men need to get ready," he commanded as he watched Major Young and his men disappear in columns of light as they were beamed aboard the ship. Dr. Zelenka and his team were also moving rapidly, entering the coordinates for the unknown world where they would find the missing SG teams. "Dial the gate, Zelenka," General O'Neil instructed.

"Sir, is General Caldwell coming back?" Commodore Missen asked as he and Colonel Chekov stepped up behind O'Neill.

"Not for a bit, Gentlemen. I put him in command of Fort Point until Dr. Weir returns from the Colonies," he answered without turning. "Commander Adama, Admiral Cain. You are welcome to stay for this, but don't feel like you have to. We never leave our people behind, and this could get very unpleasant if it doesn't go well." The Stargate finished dialing as he spoke and the wormhole was established. "SG-1, this is General O'Neill. Do you copy?" He called out to his friends. "SG-1, do you read me?" No response. "Daniel, good buddy, come on back now?" Jack was growing more and more concerned. He began to motion to the Major Young and his waiting team when his radio crackled to life.

"Jack! It's good to hear your voice. We're here – SG-1 is intact and I think we've made a new ally. There's a problem though: the second team you sent through is lost." Daniel paused to let that sink in.

"What do you mean Daniel?" Jack asked.

"It appears there are two Gates on this planet. They were sent to a different location, and it appears they may have been taken captive by hostiles," Daniel explained.

"I'm sending Major Young and his Rangers through right now to help you. Tell Cam he can have whatever he needs to get our people back. I have four ships on patrol with an ACR and a Stryker brigade waiting above me," Jack said.

"Jack, I think these people are somehow related to the planet you are on. They're claiming to be a colony of Kobol," Daniel said excitedly. The Colonials all stood stunned at this strange news.

"What causes them to make that claim?" Adama stepped beside O'Neill and spoke into the microphone.

"They recently uncovered some relics and historical documents that identify this planet as the location of a 'Thirteenth Colony of Kobol.' These people need our help, Jack," Daniel said, ignoring the voice he didn't recognize.

"General, we want to send a team through with your men to verify this. If these are Colonials, we'll give any assistance we can," Admiral Cain said as she too stepped up to the MALP.

"That's not a problem, but my men are leaving now. Are you and Dr. Baltar prepared to leave?" General O'Neill asked Commander Adama.

"Definitely, and my team of marines as well. We can go now, and if we need supplies they can follow," Adama quickly responded as Admiral Cain gave her assent with a curt nod.

"Daniel, we'll dial back in two hours to check on your status."

"Not a problem, when you dial back in, I'll need a DHD or something of the sort. They haven't found one here."

"Not a problem. Talk to you in two hours." Jack cut the transmission and turned issue his orders to Major Young. "Major, render whatever assistance you can. We're behind you 100%."

"Thank you, Sir. We'll get our men back, Sir," Major Young said with a salute.

"Move out!" General O'Neil ordered, and the company of Rangers moved through the gate at a stiff jog with the Colonial marines and Commander Adama close behind.

The Gate promptly shut behind them.


	5. Chapter 5: Strange reunions

**Strange Reunions**

XXXXXXXXXX

Zion?

XXXXXXXXXX

"That sure is strange," Neo remarked as he watched the Stargate turn in its new base. He had never seen anything like it and it fascinated him. It was simply astounding that people could travel to other worlds by simply walking through the round structure. He didn't think he would ever understand it.

"They said it made a wormhole through space that you travel through after it makes you into little particles. That just seems funny to me," Trinity said as she watched a strange blue puddle mushroom out of the spinning circle and then settle back. For several minutes she, Neo, Morpheus, and the rest of the crew of the _Nebuchadnezzar_ listened as the newcomers talked on their radios to someone on the other side of the puddle.

"Not a problem. When you dial back in, I'll need a DHD or something of the sort. They haven't located theirs as of yet," Dr. Jackson was saying.

"Sounds good. We'll talk to you in two hours. O'Neill out," replied the voice on the other side. Two minutes later, the first of this new group of people began to appear out of the puddle, or "Gate," as they called it. The first group carried weapons, some new and some surprisingly familiar. The second group was dressed a little differently and carried bigger weapons that looked like they were designed to destroy machines.

"Welcome to Zion," Morpheus announced as they finished filing through the Gate and forming a circle around their team, weapons drawn and facing towards the ground. They were not threatening, but were obviously here for a particular purpose. Two of their people stepped forward and introduced themselves.

"I am Major Everett Young, Tauri commander with the United States Army," Major Young said as he extended his hand in friendship towards Morpheus. Morpheus gladly took his hand and introduced his team.

"I am Morpheus, captain of the _Nebuchadnezzar_ and leader of the outside forces of Zion, the last human city of what is left of the Thirteenth Colony of Kobol," Morpheus said, finally beginning to accept the oddness of the new arrivals. He was surprised then when the next man came up to him and introduced himself.

"I am Commander Adama; I am in charge of the Battlestar _Galactica_ and am the leading officer from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol," Adam said, awed. For him, this was a strange day indeed because he, like most Colonials, knew of the Thirteenth Colony but had always thought it to be a myth. No one really believed they existed. "If you are truly a part of the Thirteenth Colony as you say, then forty-eight billion people stand behind you. The attack that the Tauri told me about will not stand," Adama decided, firmly. He wanted to know – and quickly – what proof these people had that they were a part of the Colonies.

"We would be glad to show you what we know. Right now, though, there are four of the Tauri soldiers lost somewhere planetside. We were on our way to the docking tower on the upper levels to research where they might have gone." Morpheus gestured for his team to follow, along with all of the Tauri and Colonial personnel.

"I think Dr. Baltar and I should probably head for their archives and look through the evidence and historical documents," Dr. Jackson said as he motioned for Dr. Baltar to follow him. "We could also give Major Young and his Rangers a short tour, if that's all right with you, Morpheus." Dr. Jackson waved for the Rangers to join him.

"Thank you, Dr. Jackson, but I'll join Commander Adama. My men can go with you, though." Major Young instructed his men to quietly look the place over and secure the Stargate so that they would be ready in two hours should they be needed.

"So, how long have all of you lived in this underground city, Morpheus?" Commander Adama asked as they wound their way up stairs and over catwalks, towards the top of what appeared to be an underground tower.

"We've lived here as a people for at least a hundred years, although it is only recently that we came to learn it might have been far longer than that. Most of us are like myself, though, born in the fields above ground and raised in pods by machines, so they can harvest us for our energy," Morpheus said as they approached the last level before they would come out onto the dockyard and the dome that was the top of their city.

"Is that why you have that thing on the back of your neck?" Adama asked. He had noticed a metal protrusion on the back of Morpheus's neck as he walked behind him through the city. "Yes, that is the conduit through which we accessed the network that they have used and still use to control the minds of those whose bodies they own. We believe there are as many as a hundred million people still up there, enslaved by the machines that control the land and air of this planet," Morpheus surmised as they stepped out of a doorway onto the sprawling dockyard.

"That is quite a sight," Adama remarked, impressed by the size of it all. He could get a clear picture of a fairly flat space throughout the docks. In the center was a tower topped by a crane with some sort of energy beam emanating from its top all the way up to the crest of the rock dome more than five hundred feet above them. The dome had obviously been carved by men, as it was a perfect sphere. As far as he could tell, the whole thing was about a mile across. Around the tower were quite possibly the strangest looking ships he had ever seen. The looked a lot like fish, except they had strange discs attached to them like little floor buffers. Each of the ships was about a hundred feet long and had at least six strange discs, each of which was fifteen feet across. Adama would have liked to know what they were for. It was also plain to see the dock was well armed; guns of various types, some he recognized and some he didn't, were scattered throughout the dome and on the ships themselves.

"What are those?" Major Young asked. He too was taking in the sight of the docks, and turned around to see a massive opening in the side of the dome that contained a large structure resembling a man with massive guns attached to his hands. As he watched, one of the ships came into view. The ship seemed to be floating and moving into the docks at a fairly slow speed. What was most impressive, though, was the way the strange pads on the ship were now alight with some sort of energy and appeared to be holding the ship in place.

"That is the _Hammer_ coming in from a patrol on the outer edge of the perimeter and a trip into the Matrix to gather information," Morpheus informed him as he stopped with them for a moment to admire the beauty of the ship and its graceful movements in the air. "Her captain is a friend of mine. She would like to meet us after she lands. If you would like a short tour, I can allow you to see my ship. The _Nebuchadnezzar_ is docked just to the other side of the tower." Morpheus beckoned all of them to come further into the docks and toward the tower. "Much of our information gathering is done in the tower and we can track your other friends from there."

"So, do you think they could still be up there, above ground?" Colonel Mitchell asked as he caught up to them, having been busy watching the ships.

"We do, but we have to pinpoint their position to get a better idea of what danger they might be in," Morpheus said as Mitchell shook hands with Major Young and introduced himself to Commander Adama.

"After four and a half days, they're probably running out of food. If they're still alive," Major Young mused. They reached the main door to the tower and walked inside and down a flight of stairs into a strange round room that was obviously some sort of control area.

"This is the gate and defense control room. From here, we control access to the city and track the movement of the machines in the tunnels above us," Neo informed them as they entered the room. "And from this console we can monitor ground movement on the planet above. We have several stations we monitor from throughout the tunnel network so we can locate most everything accurately and quickly," he continued, stopping them in front of a pair of technicians who were busy at work.

"Please pull up the information from four days ago that corresponded with the second Gate opening," Morpheus requested. One of the technicians touched a few buttons and a third, much larger screen above the station displayed the picture of what was probably the location of the tremor they had recorded. "Locate that tremor and give us a schematic of where on or under the surface that it came from."

"Sir, it looks like that tremor came from a sub-surface tunnel right on the edge of Machine City. The tunnel looks like it was only thirty feet deep or so, but I'm willing to bet it was a close-access tunnel to the city itself," the technician responded, somewhat resigned.

"If they are still alive, then they were probably taken by the machines and re-planted in the Matrix. If," Morpheus said, sounding very doubtful.

"What is the Matrix?" Commander Adama asked for everyone.

"That's a question that will take a while to answer. If you will follow me, I'll take you to my ship where we can speak for an extended period of time," Morpheus explained as he led the whole group out of the tower and to one of the many apparently identical ships. As they neared the ship, they did finally see the name on the side of the body. Indeed it was the _Nebuchadnezzar_. This ship, like the others, had eight of the round circular pads, all facing downwards, but they were obviously mobile because they had seen the _Hammer_ returning from its mission with only some of its pads facing downwards.

"Where do you get the energy to runs your ships?" Adama asked as they stepped onto the gangway that lead into the ship.

"We get our energy from the planet; I guess you would call it thermal. Each ship carries batteries on board that we charge when we come into the docks at the end of each tour," Neo said as he and Trinity, the ship's first mate, followed the rest into the ship.

"How long can the ship operate between charges?" Adama probed.

"Five or six days of continuous use, or two weeks if we are fairly dormant. We don't usually push that far though," Trinity said as she came around the group and headed off towards her berthing quarters to retrieve some things.

Major Young found the ship interesting. From the fairly open architecture of the front of the ship it was obvious that area had a purpose. He wondered if it was somewhat like the nose cone of a fighter jet, with its telemetry equipment set to the forward facing part of the ship. As they came further into the ship it became plain to see that either they designed the ship with little attention paid to actually shooting at their enemy, or something else was going on. After several minutes, they came to a fairly large room with eight chairs that looked a lot like ancient control chairs. The chairs had strange computers hanging above them that seemed to have a very particular purpose. In the center of the room, there was a console with three computer monitors and a much larger flat panel monitor above it. On all four screens there were strange characters that cascaded down the screen continuously.

"What is that on the screen?" Mitchell pointed at the screens as he watched the lettering flow down them.

"That is a tall blonde walking down a busy street in the middle of the city," Trinity said as she came up behind them from the back of the room with a large silverfish spike in her hand.

"What do you mean by that?" Adama asked as he turned to stare at what she had in her hand.

"The truth is that that is the Matrix. Or, at least, that is the coding that we see here as the Matrix," Neo explained. "To put it simply, when I said earlier the machines took people and turned them into energy cells…that is one part of this system. While there is a large, complex network to facilitate that, the Matrix is the control program. The thing that makes it possible for people to spend their entire lives not realizing that they are slaves to a system that is sucking the life from their body." Morpheus paused to take a breath. "While there are other systems set up to take care of physical needs, the Matrix is designed to take care of the needs of the mind. These things that we all have in our heads were implanted by the machines when we were born, and they allow us to physically connect our minds to the Matrix." He pointed to the back of his head and Trinity came forward to display the spike that had been in her hand and how it might fit into Morpheus's head. It was all a bit intimidating. "For those that do enter the Matrix, it feels no different from being here, now – except that it's all in your head. However, whatever your mind sees, it makes real, so death in the Matrix is death here too, just as trauma felt there is also felt here," Morpheus concluded. "I know this is a lot to understand, but trust me when I say this is all the absolute truth."

"Can we see what the Matrix looks like for someone inside it?" Major Young asked, now very curious.

"Unfortunately, without a jack, we have no way of connecting you to the system in a way that would put you into the Matrix," Morpheus explained.

"Actually, I think I can help with that," Commander Adama said as he thought out loud.

"How?" Neo asked incredulously.

"We have these things called Holobands. Most people think of them as a way for us to train in virtual reality, but I think they can do more than that. Dr. Baltar and some of our pilots can explain the process better, but I think that may help us. Plus, there are failsafes built into the system that will prevent a person from dying here if they die in the virtual."

"I would very much like to have your Dr. Baltar look into that. If that is the case, we can all get these jacks removed, and it could save many lives," Neo said. He and Trinity both looked very surprised at that information.

"Both of these sound very interesting, but I believe SG-1 will have to look into this as well," Colonel Mitchell commented quickly, not wanting to be left out of any mission that might come as a result this conversation.

"In the meantime, we should meet up with our other team and report back to the Gate for our next check in." Commander Adama said. They made their way out of the _Nebuchadnezzar_ and back down into the city.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cylon Home World

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"This is a problem," Leoben said to the other assembled Human-Form Cylons. They had all been listening to a briefing from the last of the Sixes, who had just finished downloading into new bodies after losing the recent battle. She had already told them that the other Twos that were lost had not been within range of the resurrection ship and that her ships had perished after these unknown "Tauri" had tracked them through a hyperspace jump.

"We must mourn our lost brother later. Right now, we have to deal with the Tauri. We must destroy them now, while we can," Leoben decided.

"No, we must wait and watch. These humans are powerful enough to destroy two Basestars with a single round from their cannon," Six argued as she showed the image again of the small Tauri ship sitting on top of the two Basestars and destroying both with one shot. Many in the crowd still could not believe that this was possible. How could humans posses the amount of power it took to create something like that?

"Not to mention their nuclear devices were much more powerful than ours. Two of their nuclear weapons destroyed nearly my entire fleet," Caprica said.

A Five put forward, "We believe the device yields were in excess of five gigatons, with some element we've never seen before." The entire room was silent as they tried to comprehend the idea that these humans had nuclear weapons far more destructive than they ever though possible.

"I can also tell you they were small enough that we never detected them on DRADIS, which is a problem in and of itself." Six paused. "We cannot hope to be either effective or efficient in defeating an enemy we don't yet know and have no real chance of beating in a head-to-head battle. For now, I think we must watch." Most of the other heads in the room nodded in approval of the idea, except for the Twos in the room, who looked to Leoben to speak up

"I do think, though, that we must prepare our plan for the colonials right now. We may not be as ready as we want, but if we are to fight a new enemy, we must first clear the field of our other enemy," he said, again garnering nods of agreement. As everyone left the room, things were being set in motion that the Cylon leadership believed would forever change both who the Cylons were and who the Colonials used to be.

Most of the Cylon fleet began to prepare. Cylon ships were leaving the Dock and forming attack groups. In a few days, they would be marshaling at their assigned points and prepping jump locations. Ground troops were being prepared as the last of the ships were loaded and made ready for the voyage to come and, undoubtedly, the few ground battles and many mop-up operations that would follow. The coming days and weeks would be a special time for the Cylon race, as they would finally mete out the justice that they had long sought for their former masters.

Unbeknownst to them, though, was the fact that their plan was unraveling before it even began. Moving quickly through space, one of those small Tauri vessels was bringing back its towed cargo to the Colonies to make new friends, and those Tauri had already began to roll up the Cylon spy network. What the Tauri did not yet know was that these same Cylons were just the first wave of the Cylon invasion and that was supposed to pull down the Colonial defenses and open the Colonies themselves to immediate attack.

XXXXXXXXX

Onboard the _Odyssey_: Nearing Colonial Home Worlds

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"So, what you're telling me is these people created your race and then used you as their slaves, so you feel you must annihilate them?" Dr. Weir restated as she looked at the Cylon calling herself Natalie, watching her reactions for anything that might tell the doctor if the Cylon were lying. Dr. Weir had experience talking to human-form machines and expected them all to be accomplished liars. Already, she learned that the Cylons had been infiltrating the Colonies and she could only imagine what they were planning. She and Colonel Caldwell had argued about splitting up their captive Cylons for study and she was glad she had persisted because the amount of information that she could now bring to the Colonials could help in negotiations a great deal. The question for her now was how she could use it.

"When do your people plan on destroying the Colonies?" Weir deadpanned as the three imprisoned Cylons' eyes went wide at the realization they had given up pretty much everything. "And why did you have people within our ranks? Was it to infiltrate the Colonies because you didn't realize we were different, or because you infiltrated us in particular?" Dr. Weir said to push them all a little bit. They all sat down, closed mouthed, realizing it was in their best interest to give no further information.

"How long have you been in the Milky Way Galaxy? When did your people leave this galaxy?" Dr. Weir continued pressing. All of the Cylons now looked very confused and a bit surprised at the fact that humans existed in more than one galaxy. There was another thing Dr. Weir read from their expressions, though they wouldn't speak. Even though she did give out information so she could no longer ever let these machines go, she had never really planned on letting any of them go anyway.

"Do you mean that your people work in two galaxies, or that you are from another galaxy?" The same Natalie asked.

Dr. Weir smiled a bit at this. "Both." She found it amusing these machines thought they lived in a much smaller universe that only included the Pegasus Galaxy and the Colonials. She had to admit the idea of blowing up their conception of the universe was a little fun.

"The truth is, we're actually in many more galaxies than just these two," she said as she rose to leave the room. "We'll talk again later; for now, we'll be arriving at the Colonies in a few moments and I have things to do. We will talk later," she said again as she began to leave the room. "And, one last thing: prepare yourselves, because one or two of you will be going over to the Colonies for interrogation." The blood drained out of all of their faces, knowing interrogation probably included being tortured and then killed.

"Colonel Chekov, how far away are we?" Dr. Weir asked as she entered the Bridge and took a seat behind the Colonel in his command chair.

"Dropping out of hyperspace in thirty seconds; your timing is impeccable, Dr. Weir," Chekov responded as he looked at the view screen and issued commands to take the ships out of hyperspace right on the outskirts of Colonial territory. As they dropped out, they came abruptly to a stop only a few hundred thousand miles from what was obviously a forward picket of the border guard for the Colonies. Within a minute, the picket ships that looked much like the two Gunstars accompanying the _Odyssey_ moved to intercept. The view screen came to life as the two Gunstars both hailed the _Odyssey_ to advise and lead them into Colonial territory.

"The picket ships have already hailed us and we will have to escort you to Picon shipyards and fleet headquarters. From there we will go wherever we are needed," Major Kronon said from the bridge of his Gunstar. He had taken the lead of their two-ship escort.

"Major, I need you to give this mission extreme priority. After talking to the Cylons we have onboard, I believe there may be a real threat of attack," Dr. Weir said, getting his attention quickly.

"Do you mean to tell me that you brought Cylons with you into Colonial territory? That's a breach of the armistice all by itself." He sounded very surprised.

"At this point in my interrogation of these Cylons, I believe they have infiltrated both Tauri and Colonial forces. If that's true, then there could be very immediate and real danger. Do you understand why I say we need to hurry this up? I believe we can detect these Cylons from orbit of a planet, so we probably need to act quickly, but I cannot do that without first talking to senior leadership," she finished while watching her desired outcome happen as the major began issuing orders to his crew on the other end of the view screen. Dr. Weir was very glad to find that the _Galactica_ was not the norm in their fleet. It was very difficult to judge reactions from voice communications without use of a view screen.

"I am transmitting the approach coordinates for the Picon shipyards. I have contacted the Admiralty's Office and they will be there to meet us. We'll have to move from there," the major said as Colonel Chekov motioned that the _Odyssey_ was now ready to move to the shipyards and begin talks with the leadership of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

"Major, we will be there in five minutes. Please let your people know," Dr. Weir said as all three ships again entered the swirling purple vortex of a hyperspace window on their way to the shipyards.

Coming out of the hyperspace window, Colonel Chekov was surprised to find not just a hive of activity but a fleet yard larger than any he had ever seen. In front and behind him there were no fewer than fifteen Battlestars with well over thirty Gunstars surrounding them. In the distance, he could clearly make out the largest floating shipyard they had ever seen in either galaxy. There were enough berths to build at least thirty ships at a time and what he assumed were all of the rest of the stores to stock those ships. In the center of it all was a space station that had to be as large as the Death Star from the _Star_ _Wars_ movies. Colonel Chekov stared for a moment, wondering how these people had been missed by the Wraith.

"If the Wraith ever knew about this place…" Dr. Weir voiced his thoughts as she stared out the view screen and also marveled at the activity, size, and scope of the place they were seeing in front of them. "I guess this is what can happen when an entire civilization puts itself to a task."

"_Odyssey_, this is Major Kronon. Follow us into the docking area. We will lead the way. Stay three kilometers behind us and do not deviate from our flight path."

"Understood," Colonel Chekov said. Fortunately for the colonel, the _Odyssey_ had several outside-facing hatches for times just like this so they could dock wherever they needed to. It was impressive, though, to come inside the protective bubble with all of the ships and what he could now see were thousands of guns and missile batteries protecting this shipyard and fortress.

Stepping out of the airlock, Dr. Weir came along with Colonel Chekov and a team of Rangers in full battle gear. Dr. Weir in a business suit, and Colonel Chekov in his full military dress looked ready for diplomatic relations.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Elizabeth Weir. I am the commander of all Tauri forces in the Pegasus Galaxy, and I would like to introduce myself and Colonel Anatoly Chekov, commander of the _Odyssey_," she said by way of greeting the group of people standing in front of them. They were quite plainly all military, as all except the security were wearing full dress uniforms, but Dr. Weir could not tell who was in charge. However, the man at the center of the group stepped forward with an air of command in his stature and introduced himself.

"I am Admiral Nagala. I am the most senior commander on station at the moment. Pleased to meet you. However, I am not familiar with the Tauri nor do I understand why you are here with two of my Gunstar commanders who were on a secret mission?" Nagala inquired as those around him listened intently. They walked back into the station to a large conference room not far from Nagala's office. Once seated, the two Gunstar commanders gave a short, detailed account of all that had transpired.

"You mean to say, then, that you found Kobol and that these people were already there?" Nagala challenged Major Kronon.

"Yes, Sir. These people have come back with us to broker a treaty of some sort so that we can discover Kobol together, and possibly help fight the Cylons as well."

"How is it that you were able to defeat five Basestars in one battle with only two ship, Colonel Chekov?" Nagala asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"I cannot take full credit, Sir. The _Enterprise_, which is a class above the ship we arrived in, played a part in both battles, and it was actually twelve Baseships in total, Sir. We destroyed their follow-up force of seven Basestars as well." Chekov tried not to brag.

"The bigger issue right now is that we captured several Cylon agents, and I believe there may be an imminent threat, " Dr. Weir interjected, as she motioned to one of the Rangers and three figures appeared in a flash of light in the conference room. Two of the people were obviously other Rangers, dressed in battle gear and holding chains that bound the tall, thin woman standing between them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Admiral Nagala cried as he and several in the Colonial group jumped out of their seats at the sudden appearance.

"I apologize for the surprise; this is a Cylon agent. Have you seen her or any like this before?" Dr. Weir asked, showing him a sheet of paper with pictures off all the captured agents. She watched faces full of confusion turn to horror at the realization that Cylons could now impersonate humans. They were also shocked because nearly all in the room had seen someone who looked just like those in the picture.

"Can you tell the difference? How can we? We all know people who look like those in the pictures," Nagala said.

"We detected at least fifty Cylons within our scanning range, which should only include this planet as the signals are very minute," Colonel Chekov added.

"We can pick them out right now, if you would like. I can't hold all fifty in our brig, though, so if you have a place we can store them, that would be ideal. I've already taken the liberty of blocking their transmission signal. I would not suggest killing them yet, though," Weir informed them. She could see the Colonials were seething at the idea of Cylons being among them. She could also tell these people would be hard pressed not to kill all of the Cylons that they could find the minute they got their hands on them.

"Of course we'll interrogate them. We have a holding cell two levels down." He paused to look at another officer behind him. "Show them where the cells are so they can bring these…things…there." He spat the word angrily.

"If we can make a tour of the system, I believe we can find the rest of the agents. However, I believe we have another issue. Apparently when they attacked us and failed to destroy all of us, they instituted an attack plan," Weir said, and then paused to observe the effect that had on the admiral.

"What do you believe that they might be planning?" He asked, with a very good idea already in his mind.

"I think an all-out attack on the Colonies might be underway. With the amount of hatred they have for humans – and if the information I have from them is any indication – their force is quite large," she paused again to see that he was nodding in agreement and beginning to stand.

"We are in your debt for this assistance, but in light of this information I have to set things in motion right away. I'll send your information along with my own to President Adar and my superiors immediately." He approached Dr. Weir and reached out a hand in gratitude. "Thank you for your help. I will have Major Kronon escort you throughout the Colonies so you can scan for Cylon agents while the information gets to the president and he decides what to do with it. You can house whatever agents you find on board the two Gunstars escorting you. I'll speak with you again soon," he said and left the room while Colonel Chekov and two other Rangers followed the officer assigned to show them the holding cells. Dr. Weir slowly stood and made her way over to stand next to the Cylon that had been her captive. After a brief moment, she made a motion for one of the Rangers to arrange for their beam out.

"You have ruined us all," the Six hissed as she stood in chains and watched in shame as the Colonials made ready to defend themselves from the carnage that was about to ensue. The four of them promptly vanished from sight.

Over the next three days, they removed more than three thousand Cylons from the Colonies.

Dr. Weir knew that this would be a big step in arranging a treaty to help defeat the Wraith. In fact, it already began to help over the next week to start a formal treaty of friendship and major trade in technology that the Colonies would need to defend themselves against the Cylons, and the Wraith. While the Colonies would get the basic Naquada generation technology and rudimentary shielding technology, in return they offered their crown jewel: space mining in zero g. It was also comforting that she was able to arrange for the Colonials to build a floating shipyard over New Lantea as well, which could quite possibly quadruple their ship producing abilities.

In a way though, Dr. Weir was fortunate because of the Cylon threat. With the Colonies now gearing up for war, the issue of Kobol and the religion all Colonials shared was set aside. This set the stage for a possible agreement in the area was not overly influenced by religious zealotry, which would certainly have derailed all treaties.

"Colonel Chekov, are there any worlds with Stargates nearby? We need to make our status report and I'd like to make it face-to-face with General Caldwell," Dr. Weir said as she mounted the Bridge of the _Odyssey_. They were in high orbit above the capital world of the Colonies, and over Caprica City itself. Dr. Weir had just finished another round of talks with the president of the Colonies and wanted to talk to someone else before she agreed to some of the technology transfers. She also wanted to get some more information and maybe a specimen or two of Wraith tech to show the president as their next round of talks was going to be specifically about the Wraith and the threat they posed.

"No, Ma'am. It looks like the closest gate is actually outside their territory and I don't think we should be leaving quite yet. We can open a channel, though, whenever you are ready," Colonel Chekov said as he motioned for his communications officer to do just that.

XXXXXXXXX

New Lantea

XXXXXXXXX

"Incoming message! Sir, it's the _Odyssey_," the communications tech on New Lantea said to General Caldwell, who had been taking his seat in the middle of the newly opened Command Center. They had been working for a while to create a centralized command and control area where they could bring in all of the information gathered from around the galaxy. For a long time, they had used the Gate Room and its control facilities, but as Tauri operations in the Pegasus Galaxy expanded, it just wasn't feasible for both the Gate and non-Gate activities to be operated from one small location. The Command Center was not very far from the Gate Room and its attendant facilities so they could coordinate easily, but the separation was a necessary one.

"How are things going, Dr. Weir?" General Caldwell asked as he took a sip of his coffee. "Your coffee maker works quite well, Doctor. You'll like your new office." Caldwell grinned, reminding her of their oddly switched roles.

"Thanks. Things here are going well. Is General O'Neill around? I have some things I need to clear with him. I think we might have a working agreement with the Colonials within the week. I already made agreements to get them to build a floating dock and shipbuilding facility in orbit of New Lantea. As well as a few prototypes of their jump drives," Weir told him.

"Really! That would be great. How much of a shipyard?" Caldwell asked, genuinely curious.

"It's shaping up to be a big enough dry dock to build at least a dozen _Enterprise_-class ships at a time, as well as zero-gravity mining ships. All they asked for was mining rights for an element they call Tylium in any system we have control of," Weir said, to Caldwell's surprise.

"So, those ships they had at Kobol weren't the bulk of their force, then?" Caldwell asked.

"Not at all. From what we can see, they have in the neighborhood of five hundred ships," Weir replied. "How are things going there? Any news on the city ships?" Weir asked, still wondering where General O'Neill was.

"Things are going quite well. It turns out the ZPM factory we thought we had was actually the power and control facility for a Aurora-class shipbuilding facility. It takes twelve ZPMs, from what we can tell, and it simply creates its own materials and can build four ships at a time. The two ships that were docked were both operational; they just needed their power sources turned on. They're called _Hermes_ and _Poseidon_ and they are on their way to Kobol now." He paused to sip his coffee. "The second city has drone and jumper production facilities, along with a ZPM factory on one of its outer piers. We haven't turned it on yet, but it does have an inventory of around sixty ZPMs, so we're good for power until we can figure out how to turn the factory on," Caldwell said as he counted off the things he had to tell her. "Oh, and General O'Neill is on Kobol at the moment. He wanted that kept a bit hush-hush though; you know how the Powers that Be are about him being in harm's way. National asset and all."

"Thanks for the update. Which ship is he using as his flagship right now?" Weir asked so she knew whom to call next.

"The _Kronos_, The _Kronos_ and _Ajax_ are orbiting Kobol now, and will be until the _Hermes_ and _Poseidon_ relieve them. And in three weeks we'll have four more ships from the ship production facility. We haven't come up with names for them yet," Caldwell added.

"Thanks. I'll call for another update later," Dr. Weir said as she cut that line and opened a new one to talk to General O'Neill.

XXXXXXXXX

Kobol

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The last few days had been busy ones for General Jack O'Neill. He had overseen a small deployment to the Thirteenth Colony, and then taken charge of the teams of scientists and engineers that were now on the planet, researching and all of the ruins. Jack hated sitting around while everyone else was doing what they were trained to do, so he'd been getting to know the Colonials. He had spent a bit of time with Admiral Cain, and wasn't sure if he trusted her yet. He did, however, instantly like the team they were getting ready to send over to the other planet. At this point, they had confirmed that it was the Thirteenth Colony of Kobol and they were under attack by machines. However, the idea of people being inserted into some sort of computer network was just weird. Yes, Jack was familiar with the idea – he remembered seeing it before – but this was different. The last mission Jack had been on like this, the people were inside stasis pods. Apparently the people on this planet were somehow hardwired into the system. The new team going through had something called Holobands that were going to allow them to go inside the Matrix. Jack still didn't completely understand why they couldn't just smash the computers and get all the people out. It should have been simple, but like all things in the real world were never simple, and Jack could live with that.

"So do we have an estimate as to how many people these machines have captive?" Jack asked Daniel as he stood next to Kobol main gate inside a now-built GP medium tent that would house their Gate command until a more permanent facility could be constructed. Jack knew that was a few months away, as the RED HORSE battalion stationed here had entered the Matrix world to help. A new battalion would be arriving tomorrow from New Lantea to start permanent structures.

"Morpheus believes as many as a hundred million. That seems outlandish to me, but I haven't been there to see yet. When Starbuck and Apollo get here with those Holobands, we'll be able to go into the Matrix and see for ourselves," Daniel answered.

"Are you okay with all of this, Daniel? Being a Prior and having your brain sucked a couple times hasn't made you not want your head messed with again?" Jack asked with genuine concern as he watched his friend squirm a little on the other side of the screen. Jack could see that Daniel was in a cavern that was reportedly deep underground.

"I'm fine. In fact, I'm very curious to see what it's going to be like. It's different for these people. Those who weren't born under the control of the machines look just like us, but those that were have strange silver, circular holes in the back of their necks. They literally just plug themselves into the network. Starbuck told us that the failsafes on the Holobands will protect us, so if we get hurt in the Matrix, we can't get hurt here, and such." Daniel paused to breathe. "How are things there? Have you found any city ships?"

"We located one more on the surface and it looks like there are five more under the ocean. We can probably surface the ones underwater, but it will take a lot of time and effort. When you get back, you can look around. There are a lot of ruins. I think you'll like this place," Jack said.

"Where is Caldwell, again?" Daniel asked, understanding Jack's need to be in on the excitement.

"He's at New Lantea while Weir is working out a deal with the Colonies. It just made more sense for him to be there, since he knows much more than I do about the ins and outs of running the Pegasus operation, and I know all we need to know about our operation here. You didn't think I would just sit behind my desk, did you, Daniel?" Jack accused. The drone of engines came to a sudden stop, heralding the arrival of the Colonial Gate team. "The Colonials are here. I'm going to send them through right away. In addition to Apollo and Starbuck, they're sending a computer tech and another pilot, Boomer, I think. I don't know how much help the tech will be, but I will send one of our techs with them, too, so we can watch and supervise. From the look of it, their technology is a bit behind even our homegrown technology," Jack finished telling Daniel as Major Thrace and Captain Adama came into the room.

"We are ready to go General," Captain Adama announced as they made their way over to stand next to General O'Neill in front of the screen. "Hello again, Dr. Jackson. Everything well?" Adama greeted Daniel with a wave.

"Everything's good; do you have enough Holobands for all of us?" Daniel asked.

"Enough plus spares. If they work as well as I think they will, we'll eventually supply the Thirteeners with all of the Holobands they could ever need. No point in them harming themselves when they go inside their Matrix," Starbuck answered. "We'll see you in just a minute, I guess." They left the tent and approached the Stargate that stood, open with its standard blue event horizon. For Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer, and the tech that had just joined them, it was a daunting sight. Never had any of them seen anything like it, and the idea of being demolecularized was a little disconcerting. No matter, though, as Starbuck strode right up to the event horizon, stopped, and turned her head to smile at her brother-in-law Apollo. Apollo was close behind, while the tech and Boomer followed behind him and a few Tauri personnel and another of their MALPS completed the long line.

Jack watched the last of the equipment and personnel enter the Gate and the event horizon disappeared behind them, leaving an empty metal ring in its wake. Jack had one other thing he needed to do today. Daniel had mentioned something about directions to some sort of facility here on the planet he had found in the archives on Atlantis. Jack remembered discussing road signs written in Ancient, and he was determined to find this place. Daniel wasn't sure what the place was, but the records mentioned a few roads. Since Jack could read a little Ancient because of the head-sucking incidents, he thought he could reasonably make a search of the area.

With that, Jack got back into his HMMWV and drove slowly through the forest of redwoods bigger than any on Earth. After an hour, Jack encountered his first set of ruins and was only a little surprised to find that he could read the signs that were lying by the side of the road. It still amazed him that he could remember anything from when he had all of that ancient knowledge in his head. It looked like he could be in the general vicinity of the facility. The more Jack looked, though, the more it seemed as though whatever it was would no longer be intact. Then he stopped.

To the side of the road near one of the many road signs, he saw a flag that had obviously been put there by an advance team. It was a small flag, no more than a foot tall, with a white stripe through its center, marking this a site of interest. Next to it was a door. The door appeared to be made of stone, maybe granite or something like it. It was obviously very heavy and would be difficult to open, but Jack noticed some writing on the topmost part of the door. While the door was situated much like the door to a storm cellar would be, this was obviously something different. Jack reached down to wipe away some of the leftover dust to more easily read the inscription. "What are you?" Jack asked the stones as he tried to decipher the words while brushing away the dust and dirt. At last he could make out "Speak, Friend, and Enter." There was a symbol below the words. As Jack finished wiping away the dirt, he found that the symbol seemed to blink and then glow as the door moved to the right and pushed away several large chunks of rock. "Those are powerful motors." Jack said to himself as he watched.

At the sound of movement behind him, Jack turned to see his small squad of security and aids who had been looking around the ruins on the other side of the road. "I am going through this door. Call Dr. Rush and let him know I need him and a team here. I think this may be important." Jack gestured for one of his security team to follow him while checking his sidearm to make sure he was ready. There wasn't much a good sidearm and a combat knife could not conquer when the need arose. With that, ready he stepped down into the darkness of the perfectly man-sized hole.

Slowly, Jack brought his flashlight out, only to discover that when he made it about ten feet into the hole, there were lights coming on all over. The steps led into a larger chamber that was obviously much more than a basement or shelter. As they scanned the area below, it looked as if they were entering a command center of some sort. At what seemed a good hundred yards away, there were large screens against a far wall. In front of the screens were rows of consoles, and directly behind those were somewhere between eight and ten ancient control chairs on raised pads. Behind that row of chairs sat one primary control chair, raised higher that all of the others, sitting in prime viewing position of all of the screens at the front. Behind them, the stairs had become both white like the granite door and clear like Plexiglas. Jack could clearly see three doors behind the stairs that obviously lead to other rooms. The entryway that he was coming through was too narrow to be a main entranceway. Very curious.

"Don't touch anything!" Jack called as he looked back at his cohort, who staring in quiet amazement. Never mind that Jack was not going to listen to his own command – he promptly made his way over to the central chair. As he sat down, he was not surprised to find that it immediately reclined back, although not as much as the chairs on Atlantis and Earth. This chair obviously had no holoprojectors, because it was so clearly designed such that everyone in the room focused on the monitors spread across the wall at the front of the room, almost like an Imax screen. Jack was surprised to find that the monitors were not flat like he thought, but were actually holoscreens. Three-dimensional diagrams sprang to life and began to float in the center of the screens. The central screen displayed in clear ancient writing the words, "System Restart?" There was a flashing marker next to it signifying that the system was ready for him. Jack did not hear anything directly, but he could clearly hear the question in Ancient as the chair projected the words into his thoughts. Before Jack could stop himself, he had answered in the affirmative and the whole room came to life as lights began to appear on all of the screens, marking worlds and parts of the galaxy.

"What are you doing?" Dr. Rush screamed from the bottom step that he and his team were just reaching as he realized the general was starting up the whole system. "We have no idea what this is. You could kill us all if you do the wrong thing," Dr. Rush scolded as he all but yanked Jack out of the seat. Dr. Rush was thwarted, though, as he tried to grab General O'Neill. O'Neill promptly turned Dr. Rush around with a simple judo throw, which landed Dr. Rush on his backside on the other side of the control chair. Taking stock of himself, Dr. Rush found that Jack was again sitting in the chair without so much as a spared breath.

"It looks like this is a control facility for some kind of defense grid. From what I can see so far, the blue dots on the screens are planets, while the green dots are the pieces of the defense grid. Oh, here." Jack paused as he had told the system to translate all Alterran to English for everyone else's sake, and all of the screens began to pop up with English writing next to all of the symbols. Both Jack and Dr. Rush realized at that moment that the green dots on the screen were defense satellites. And it looked like they surrounded the entire quadrant of the galaxy they had been wondering about.

"Pull up one of those satellites, please, General," Dr. Rush asked as he stood gingerly nursing a hip that would definitely have a bruise tomorrow. He watched as a satellite came into a much clearer view. "That looks like a satellite from the old Atlantis system, but it looks like it has drones as well. Amazing," Dr. Rush remarked.

"Yes, it does. And, good Doctor, that throw was just a warning. Don't ever touch me again, okay?" Jack said without a hint of apology in his voice. He had heard about Dr. Rush being very pushy and sometimes a little more physical than he should be, and he would have none of it. Jack was actually glad Caldwell wasn't here, because he might have really hurt the man, had Caldwell been in Jack's place. John Sheppard probably would have killed him. Dr. Rush had no response.

"Look at that area. There are a lot of ships around those several systems," Dr. Rush noted as he watched the part of the galaxy the Twelve Colonies resided in.

"I believe that's the _Odyssey_, and those would be the Colonials," Jack said, and all of the ships Jack was highlighting with his mind switched colors on the screen from gray unknown contacts to the familiar blue of their own and green friendly contacts. As he looked, he could also see a number of ships surrounding the green contacts, which he noticed were not like the other ships. "Dr. Rush, do those look familiar to you?" Jack asked as an image of a ship with two alternating star shapes came into clear view on the central screen, along with a count of how many contacts of this kind there were. There were close on eight hundred of them scattered throughout the area around the Colonies, and at least twenty headed directly toward the Colonies.

"Those are definitely the ones that attacked the _Enterprise_. Cylons," Dr. Rush said. "Without a doubt."

"Let's see if those satellites are operational," Jack said, noticing more than a dozen satellites were within range of the fleet of ships on the way toward them. Jack commanded all the satellites to come online, and was surprised that eight of them did just that. He had really thought there would be more to it, or all of the satellites would be derelict with so much time and disrepair. "Engaging now," Jack said, as all the view screens expect those at the periphery began to focus on the satellites. Their targets began to enlarge and a countdown clock appeared below each of the satellites. Apparently, they each need a moment to move to a firing status. By this point, the Basestars had noticed the satellites and had begun to engage these new unknowns.

"Dr. Rush, you need to get in one of those lower chairs. They seem to control the drones on the satellites," Jack ordered as the system intuitively told him what it needed to defend itself. Dr. Rush moved quickly to the nearest chair and, as he sat down, his chair also activated and within moments drones were leaving the satellites to meet the Raiders and missiles that were inbound on the satellites. As the seconds counted down, Jack could almost feel the power coursing through the defense grid, as the satellites were now ready to fire. The first eight Basestars disappeared immediately as massive bands of light simply evaporated entire sections of the Basestars and exited out the other side on their way to nowhere. The second shot would be ready in ten seconds, and in that time the fleet of twenty ships, now down to twelve, began to run. They needed at least a minute's worth of time to ready their jump drives, which shouldn't have been a problem, but they would not get that time as the next round of beams tore through another ten Basestars. Some had accidently moved behind their targeted mates as they were trying to evade.

With only two left, the drones made quick work of them and their surviving Raiders. Jack left only one heavy raider to return to their home world. He knew he probably shouldn't have, but he wanted them to think twice before moving in his direction. Little did they know, but Jack and his leftover Alterran technology would have something to say about their plans before it was all over.


	6. Chapter 6: The Ghost in the Machine

**The Ghost in the Machine**

"Are we set?" Daniel asked as he sat down on a reclining chair, ready to don his headset for their first test with the Matrix. It was only a couple of days after they had learned of its existence. Daniel had not shared This experience yet.

"You're ready – we'll let you go in with Morpheus and Neo to start." Starbuck was monitoring the systems that linked the holobands to _Nebuchadnezzar_'s systems. While the holobands were advanced, they were not at the level of the Thirteenth Colony's technology. What surprised Starbuck, though, were the computers of the Tauri. It was amazing how small their computers were and how much they could do. They were fast enough they could run all of the programming needed to control the interface between the holobands and the _Nebuchadnezzar_.

"We're ready. Neo and Morpheus are loaded. Here you go," Link said as he hit the "load" button to join Dr. Jackson with Morpheus in what they were calling the "construct."

Almost immediately, Daniel got the feeling he was falling. His first reaction was to put his hands up, but he quickly countered that and found himself standing in a completely white room with Neo and Morpheus. Both were dressed a bit oddly, Neo in a floor length coat and leather pants with a dark shirt and Morpheus in an all leather suit with a dark pair of sunglasses. Daniel couldn't help but smile a bit at the over-the-top clothing. Daniel himself was dressed fairly simply in a set of BDUs and desert combat boots with his boonie hat in his side pocket. In a way, it showed how much the SGC and his work had become a part of who he was.

"What you see is your residual self image. It's what you look like in your mind. In many ways, it is what you are most comfortable with and how you operate the best," Morpheus explained, gesturing to himself and Neo.

"We're not sure how the holobands will work with our programs, but we will load you with our base training programs. We don't want anyone going into the Matrix without some base training," Neo said as he looked up and then, to Link, "Load Daniel with the base training programs." As he said this Daniel felt quite possibly the sharpest sensation he had ever felt. It felt good, though, and Daniel smiled.

"That was cool," Daniel said as he looked at Morpheus with some newfound understanding. After another two hours of this, Daniel was ready to put his training to work.

They were still standing in the loading program as Daniel completed the last training program and Neo finished explaining the basics of the Matrix.

"So, what does it mean to be 'the One'? Can you do anything special?" Daniel asked.

"I have the ability to see the code within the Matrix and adjust it. In other words, I can change the Matrix to a certain extent, as well as some other things. I am learning more all the time."

"Do any of your abilities transfer outside the Matrix?" Daniel asked, wondering if his abilities were anything like the partial and full Ascension he had been through a few times.

"Not that I have seen yet. I do feel that I tend to see things before they happen, but I don't know if that's just experience or some specific ability," Neo answered in the most honest way possible, while Morpheus watched, enraptured by his words.

"Let's put yours training to the test. Link, load the Dojo. Let's see what Daniel can do," Morpheus said, as everyone on the ship huddled closer around the view screens at the control console. Link loaded the Dojo into the program for everyone to see and someone explained that the Dojo was the training site for all who entered the Matrix. Colonel Mitchell smiled as he watched Daniel step to the front of the gym and ready himself. Cam knew that this was not the most comfortable place for Daniel. Daniel could handle himself in a fight, but he was never the type to fight in a Dojo just for fun.

"You now have all of the base programs: Judo, Jujitsu, Karate, and many others." Morpheus had a very serious expression on his face. Daniel shook his head in the affirmative.

"I can definitely feel them in my body. Wow. It's quite a high," said Daniel, smiling as he moved up to face Morpheus.

"Show me," Morpheus said as he smiled and readied himself.

"Fun!" Daniel exclaimed as he started to move into a ready position. He kept thinking to himself that this was not normal for him, but the new knowledge in his brain pushed his body to react in ways he was not used to. Daniel's first strike at Morpheus was easily blocked with a simple thrust from Morpheus' left hand and the two of them quickly flowed into a maze of different punches and kicks, all aimed at Morpheus and all easily blocked. Morpheus noted that Daniel was exceptionally fast, and he seemed to speed up as he threw more punches. Then Daniel began to feint one direction and hit or kick from the other as they slowly began to circle the room. Daniel had Morpheus in a corner when, to his surprise, after one particular feint with a fist and then a kick to the left leg, Morpheus lifted himself into the air above and over Daniel, who watched in fascination.

"How did you do that?" Daniel asked. He stood stock-still waiting for an answer, though Morpheus stood tensed for another strike from Daniel.

"In here, you can do whatever your mind says you can. If you believe it, you can do it. All of this is in our minds," he explained as he motioned at the environment around him. "If I choose to, I can jump over tall buildings or fly through the air like I just did." Morpheus looked Daniel directly in the eyes and challenged him. "You must free your mind to achieve your potential." As he said this, he took two steps back to let Neo in. Neo began a flurry of punches and jabs that most watching on the screen could barely see, but Daniel blocked with apparent ease. Cam and Vala watched in wonder. Daniel was more than holding his own. After several minutes of punches and hits and high-flying kicks, Neo put up his hand and motioned for Daniel to stop. Daniel was surprised to see that he had not broken a sweat at all.

"That is exceptional Dr. Jackson." Neo said.

"I have existed in three forms, died at least five times, and fought too many enemies to count. Freeing my mind is no longer difficult." Morpheus and Neo looked very confused. "Never mind." Daniel dismissed it with a wave of his hand, and Cam and Vala snickered a bit from their vantage point behind the screen.

"Daniel is unique. People sometimes get the impression when viewing his work that he's meek and quiet, but he is far from it. He doesn't look for a fight, but when he has to he can be quite extraordinary." Cam tried to explain.

"Sounds like an interesting guy," Link said from his chair at the keyboard, where he was still controlling the scene unfolding before them. "Loading jump program," he informed them as he made adjustments on the control panel.

Daniel and Neo now faced a vast skyline, easily as big as New York or Shanghai. Daniel stumbled a little as the ground underneath his feet quickly changed from the soft padded floor of the Dojo to the hard gravel roof of a large apartment building. With the change, Morpheus smiled and looked at Daniel curiously. "Let's see how you do with this. As part of freeing our minds, we learn that we can also do things we would not be able to in our world. In this simulation we will jump from one building to another. Like this…." His words faded in the distance as he took three quick steps towards the edge of the rook and leapt into the air, flying across the gulf between buildings and landing on the roof of the next building with a quiet thud. At that, he turned around and said. "Not everyone does this the first time. There is no shame if you can't on your first attempt."

Neo smiled. He knew Morpheus had just created a challenge. With that, Daniel ran to the edge of the roof and leapt with all of his strength. He flew nearly half the way across the chasm before he lost his flight and began to plummet, landing with a much louder thud on the edge of the other building and nearly toppling backward and back into the alley they had just jumped over. All who watched were surprised; he had made it, even if only by the slimmest of margins. Only SG-1 was surprised again when Neo floated over after Daniel to see if he was okay.

"What is that? He can fly?" Cam asked as he watched Daniel receiving congratulations from Morpheus and Neo.

"Yes, the One does not need to jump; he can fly. He flies quite well, actually."

"It looks like all of the training has taken hold," Morpheus said as he stood in front of Daniel on the roof. "We will have to watch you over the next few days to see if it lasts. In the meantime, we will train the rest of your and the Colonial teams so that in three days we can leave Zion on our search and rescue mission."

"Is there any way we can move sooner? We need to find our friends," Daniel pleaded.

"If your friends are not in the Matrix, then they are already dead. If they are in the Matrix, then they are not in any immediate danger. In all likelihood, agents are observing them quietly to monitor what they think is your friends' re-integration. Any quicker than three days would put all of us in danger," Morpheus said sternly, exuding a sense of command of the situation.

"That should coincide with the _Ajax_ and _Kronos_ arriving in orbit. Then we should have enough manpower to put a bit of a hurtin' on those machines," Cam mused while Daniel and Neo talked about preparations and what to expect inside the Matrix.

"Can I go next?" Cam asked as soon as Morpheus made the sign that they were ready for the next person to come in and train. It would be a long couple of days.

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Kobol

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It had been a long few days since Jack and his people had found the underground control room. In that time, they had explored more of the complex beyond the central control room. It was much larger than Jack thought possible. They were just now beginning to figure out the process of turning on the satellite construction facilities they had found. It appeared that this planet had been the manufacturing hub during the war against the wraith.

Jack missed Daniel. He needed his friend to look through the various historical logs and understand what had happened here that made the Ancients leave. It had been previously accepted that the Alterrans had, over time, lost ground and finally abandoned this galaxy, but with this whole complex still intact, Jack was beginning to wonder if that was the whole story. Once they rescued the rest of the lost SG team, he would get Daniel back here and he would figure it all out. For now though, Jack was having fun with his new toys.

"Dr. Rush, how is the startup for the satellite factory coming? Have we figured out how to get those completed satellites out into space and deployed where we want them?"

"We're almost done with the start-up process, It looks like we need ships for the transport and placement though," Dr. Rush informed him. Jack thought hard about that problem.

"What ship could fit something that large?" Jack asked as they walked through one of the doors at the back of the control room that led into a transport room, which deposited them out on the top level of the satellite construction facility. They were eighteen stories in the air, looking out over a massive bay easily large enough to fit a whole fleet of 747s flying laps inside this building. On the floor of the facility there were at least a dozen different satellite weapons in various stages of production. Jack found it strange to see all of these things being built without the help of human hands. Fortunately, none of the automation came from replicators, or this whole place would have been a bust.

"Now, Sir, if you follow me you will see the process." Dr. Rush led General O'Neil further down into the facility to stand in front of a massive, unrecognizable structure. "This, Sir, is a Satellite in its transport mode." Dr. Rush turned around to face the large cylindrical object. It was roughly fifteen stories tall and at least ten stories wide.

"I wouldn't think that this ball of metal could turn itself into one of those massive satellites," Jack remarked as he motioned to the other objects being built around them.

"It looks like both of the Auroras we found docked in here were equipped with docking style clamps to deliver these to whatever locations we require. I believe each ship can hold two at a time…." Dr. Rush stopped abruptly as one of his scientists came running up to them.

"You have to see this!" The scientist cried excitedly as he motioned for both men to come to the side of the construction bay that faced the ocean. When Jack looked out, he could see they were clearly on the edge of a different continent than the one where they discovered the control room. The ocean here was beautiful. Stretching out in front of them was a fairly rocky beach and grayish sand with a sea that was beautifully emerald green with shades of topaz that Jack imagined was some sort of plant life. Amidst all of that, Jack could clearly see in the distance two bright white bubbles of light emerging from the ocean near the horizon. With a hint of fear in his voice Jack whispered to Dr. Rush, "What is that?"

Awed, Dr. Rush answered him, "Those are two of the five city ships we found at the bottom of the sea." He paused for a moment. "We'll have to share them with the Colonials now, I think."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jack agreed, resigning himself to the idea of sharing technology. "It appears that their science-y types have confirmed this is their home world. Hopefully that won't be a problem."

Dr. Rush couldn't agree more. "Fortunately, we seem to have gotten the most valuable of the ships away, Sir. At least we don't have to worry about them having a ZPM factory or an Aurora building facility."

Jack appreciated the reminder. "Could you imagine the leap for them, going from those hulking behemoths they fly now to Auroras and all of that? Fortunately, they are friends." They continued to chat in a semi-friendly manner as they watched the two city ships rise on the horizon and move closer to the shore where they were standing. The ships looked a lot like Atlantis, and from a distance neither of them could make out any specialized facilities.

"I need to know what is on each of those ships as soon as possible so we can make sure the most sensitive technologies stay in our hands. A mistake here could easily cause tremendous harm to the Colonials as a people. I don't have to tell you that though, do I, Dr. Rush?" Jack said.

"No, Sir. I will oversee it personally. This place has more than we ever imagined, Sir."

"True, but I think that when Daniel and his team of archeologists get here, we'll learn a lot more about the Wraith-Alterran war. Those Alterrans were an interesting bunch," Jack remarked. "Dr. Rush, I want a report first thing in the morning on those city ships."

Rush nodded and moved off to continue his work while Jack keyed his radio and waited for the _Kronos_ to transport him to the one city ship that was still on land. Jack had turned it into a command center for their on-world operations. They had discovered the city was called Cibola, and Jack remembered something about a "city of gold." At the very least, commanding Cibola meant he could keep its ZPM factory in Tauri hands and, if need be, he would simply lift off the planet and take it back to New Lantea. With that thought, Jack disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared a moment later in the control room of Cibola and found Colonel Patton waiting patiently for his superior.

"I hear you have some thoughts on how we might get these last three ships out of the water," Jack said as he made his way around the colonel and sat down at the conference table so that Colonel Patton could start the briefing.

"Yes, Sir. I think it is highly likely that I could have those ships in the air inside of a week with enough hands and a few shield generators," he said as he turned on the presentation he'd created. He droned on for several minutes, and though O'Neill paid some attention, he mostly wondered how it could be that they had advanced so far technologically and they still had to use PowerPoint all the time. It made his brain hurt.

"You have my approval; the Colonials can provide the manpower. I will talk to Admiral Cain today and we can go from there," Jack decided. Patton nodded and took his cue to leave the room quietly.

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Cylon Homeworld

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Slowly their information had begun to come in. The initial scouts now started to arrive in the Cyrannus system. The news they had sent back so far did not look good. It seemed their network of infiltrators had been rolled up. Of all the scouts that made it within range of the system, none had heard anything from any of the agents in the system. What was strange, though, was that none of their bodies had downloaded as of yet. Leoben did have some people watching the download process to see if any of their Colonial agents were coming in. It was all very strange, and it gave Leoben a bad feeling. He disliked not knowing what was going on, and, after all that had happened lately, the lack of agents in the Cyrannus system indicated relations between these new people and the Colonials had progressed further than anyone was ready to admit.

"What do you suggest we do next? We cannot move without information. The infiltration agents were integral to our strategy. We cannot take down their computer systems without them."

"Enough. We move now, we outnumber them two to one. We cannot back away now," Leoben interrupted curtly. He was unused to being challenged, and he was not responding well. "We must push forward," he said to reinforce his point. He knew that destroying the Colonies would be much more difficult without the virus infecting the Colonial computer systems, but they would have to push forward either way. "Move the scouts further into the system; we must clear our lanes of ingress and egress right away to stay on our timetable." Leoben needed to keep everyone on track and focused on their goal. They were only a day away from realizing that goal, and they had been working toward it for more than thirty years. Even so, it did not seem like victory was as certain as they thought it would be. The new humans had destroyed more than thirty Baseships already, and he knew if they chose to be involved in the Cylon-Colonial war, it could be real trouble for them.

"As soon as we get all of our scouts and forward teams in place, I want a Raider to come back and give a sitrep."

"By your command," the lead Heavy Raider centurion said as his ship disappeared, on the way to its infiltration mission. He would return several hours later

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Cyrannus System

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It had been several days now since the _Odyssey_ had arrived in the system with information about the Cylon 'skinjobs,' as the Colonials had taken to calling them. They had just finished rounding up all of the infiltrators that they could find and had dropped them off on a remote planet a few systems away. From what they could gather, the system where they left the agents would not allow them to transfer their consciences like they claimed they could. Chekov found it amusing in a way, because the planet they had left them on had animals that looked a lot like dinosaurs. The animals might have the most fun with these Cylons. This of course was making the Colonials quite happy, as they had no love for the Cylons, especially now that they knew Cylons could appear in human form.

"What is that new contact, Lieutenant?" Chekov asked his senior Sensors Officer. The last six hours, they had been patrolling at the edge of the Cyrannus system, looking for any signs of a coming invasion. The last two hours, there had been confirmed sightings of small scout ships appearing in the system and apparently believing they were stealthy. They had no idea how capable the Tauri ships were.

"Lieutenant, inform Picon fleet headquarters of the location of all the scouts we have seen so far. Inform them that we are going to follow one ship back to its destination." Then, to himself, he muttered, "Maybe we'll get lucky and find their home world." He looked at the forward view screen and gave orders to pursue any ship that was preparing to disembark. It wasn't long before a particular ship fulfilled his desire and made its way to a secure spot for its return trip. Watching this, Chekov was reminded of how detrimental poor communication could be. If the Cylons had true subspace communications, this wouldn't be happening.

The Cylon ship disappeared in a flash of light and left Colonial space. Unfortunately for them, that did not mean they were out of range of the Tauri ship's sensors. Colonel Chekov gave orders to follow the ship, which were quickly obeyed.

"I want us to cloak as soon as we exit hyperspace. We must stay undetected," Colonel Chekov said, not three hours after having left Colonial space. What he was about to see, no human had ever seen before. The Cylon home world had always been a closely guarded secret that the Colonial command had never been able to discern. Chekov was impressed; since he had never been to the Ida Galaxy to witness the power of the Asgard, the sight of an entire world filled with machines and their structures and ships was a little off-putting. The planet itself was fairly ordinary, with a medium sized girth, smallish oceans, and two large continents that covered much of the planet. It was heavily industrialized, and there were very large complexes on both continents that seemed to be cities the size of each continent. In orbit, there were at least two hundred Basestars and some other ships that looked both larger and shaped differently than their star-like Baseships. As Colonel Chekov gave orders to put the _Odyssey_ in orbit of the planet, his Communications Officer informed him that the other ships were emitting and receiving subspace signals. "What does that mean for us?" He asked, somewhat surprised.

"We aren't sure yet, Sir, because their other ships don't send these same kinds of signals. I would say those other ships are probably more advanced, but we just don't know enough," the Tech replied.

"Do you think these could be the resurrection ships the Cylon spies told us about?"

"Could be. I just assumed they were making that up. If they are transmitting their programming through subspace, though, then they could be downloading information from all the spies we left behind."

Chekov paused for a second to contemplate the thought. "That could be a problem," Chekov remarked as he pushed buttons on his console to transmit his coordinates back to the Colonials and call for the additional forces he would need. By the time the invasion started, he would be ready. Promptly his forward view screen came alive and General O'Neill's face came into view "General O'Neill, I think I have a plan now. I'll need some help though …" They would capture one of the resurrection ships and then drop a horizon weapons platform on that planet.

XXXXXXXXX

Zion: Docks

XXXXXXXXX

The Docks were usually a hive of activity before a ship went out on mission, but today was frenetic even so. With the Tauri battalion and Rangers having come through the Gate, as well as a few hundred Colonial marines to help defend the city, people were everywhere, doing various tasks. Much of the technology was new to Morpheus. In several places, the Tauri were installing something around the Docks they jokingly referred to as 'zippers.' One of the RED HORSE men, a colonel called Patton, had told Commander Locke about how they were used to protect their ships from airborne attacks. Morpheus didn't know what that meant, but the guns inside them looked deadly. At the top of the tower, the Tauri were going to create an energy barrier that could prevent the machines from reaching them for some time. Morpheus didn't understand that either, but he did know that with all of the guns the Tauri and Colonials were adding to the fight, the Docks would be a death trap for all things machine.

Truly, Morpheus was just glad to be able to get out of the way and back to what he knew best: fighting the machines in the Matrix. They had just finished prepping the _Hammer,_ _Nebuchadnezzar,_ and _Thor's Revenge_ for their trip inside the Matrix and their search for the missing humans. Their first job would be to meet with the Oracle and seek her help with both the coming machine attack and finding these missing Tauri.

Lifting off from the Docks, the patterns of work going on below started to make sense as Neo watched the people working down below to make the city defensible. Neo was very glad that all of the civilians were being evacuated through the Stargate. Apparently, the civilians were going back to their home world. Who could have guessed that they even had a home world? It was incredible how things had changed for them so quickly, but who could say 'no' to help, even if it was completely unlooked for and unexpected.

"Zion Control, this is the _Nebuchadnezzar_. We are ready to go. Requesting clearance to leave through Gate 2," Trinity said as she piloted the ship into a stationary position, waiting for the Mechs to be in place and the operator to clear her and open the door.

"This is Zion Control; you are cleared to exit the city. Godspeed, _Nebuchadnezzar,_" she said as all three ships exited the Docks, on their way to broadcast depth and their meeting with the Oracle.

XXXXXXXXX

_Enterprise_: in Orbit of Matrix World

XXXXXXXXX

Circling the rogue planet now for several days, the _Enterprise_ and her sister ships, the _Kronos_ and _Ajax,_ were having trouble penetrating the ion-charged clouds that encircled the planet. Whatever had happened on the planet at the beginning of the war had really done a number on the surface. Dr. McKay had been called in when Commodore Missen had realized they weren't going to get through those clouds without some technical help.

"Are we ready yet, Doctor? We need to get through to our people down there," Missen spoke into the comm. system as he again attempted to motivate the good doctor to finish the job.

"I need a few more minutes; you guys are all the same. Asking for the impossible and wanting it ten minutes ago," McKay said as he made faces at the speaker and microphone complex in front of him on the wall panel. "I just need to reset the emitters and we should be ready. Maybe an hour or two."

Missen smiled. "No problem. I'll be up here eating my orange, contemplating what I can do with the entire crate I just received from the _Kronos_."

"Fine! It'll be done in fifteen minutes," Rodney said as a wave of anxiety washed over him and he set to work with renewed speed. How he hated that everyone knew about his citrus allergy.

"Sensors coming online now, Sir. It looks like they are a couple miles underground," the comm. tech said as he read through the first scans from the recalibrated sensors. The view they now had of the surface was one of absolute devastation. Entire continents (of which there were three) were covered in nothing but rubble, while the lone continent with anything left intact looked just as bad. However, all of the activity on the planet was from the machines. The only life signs they could read were from the city of Zion and expansive fields on the surface of strange tower-like structures that seemed to house millions of human life signs. It was obvious from the first scans that the missing SGA team would be found in one of those two locations.

"Sir, I am detecting the locator beacons from the SGA team, and it looks like they must have been removed, because there are no corresponding life signs."

"Beam them into the Jumper Bay," Missen said, knowing that if something went wrong it would be an easy operation to vent the Bay into space and be done with whatever problem they had. "Have a science team meet me there in ten minutes. I want to see the locators with my own eyes."

"Yes, Sir. We also are detecting a large subsurface contact submerged in their largest ocean, Sir. It looks like a city ship," the tech said. Missen had gotten up from his seat and was leaving the room.

"Gather what information you can and have it ready for me when I get back," he said, and then was off the bridge on his way to the Jumper Bay to see if Colonel Sheppard and his team were already dead.

"Are we ready?" Missen asked as he entered the Jumper Bay, where the medical, security, and science teams were waiting for him. They each nodded and he pushed the button on the communications console. "Commence with beaming." With that, the empty Jumper Bay glowed quickly with the silhouette of the four very small devices that were standard issue for off-world teams. Surprisingly, though, there was a very strange squid-like machine along for the ride. That is to say that it had a tail and a bulbous head with a connecting body. It also had three arms with a five fingered had on each, looking much like a man's hand with four fingers and an opposable thumb. On its face were two mechanical eyes, as well as an orifice for scent and one for speech and taking samples. The only reason they discovered the machine could speak, though, was because it started speaking immediately following a small scream.

"Who are you? What have you done? The others will be here shortly, and your breech of protocol will be severely punished!" It shrieked as it watched the humans move around and brandish weapons at it.

"We are the Tauri, and we have transported you aboard our ship in orbit of your planet. You will tell us where the people have gone that had these implants in their bodies," Commodore Missen demanded as he approached the machine and motioned for one of his team to open the outer bay doors, but keep the environmental field active. "As you can see, you are indeed orbiting your planet, and if you don't give me the information I seek you will be ejected from this chamber to return to your planet by way of a gravity assisted fall." The machine's mechanical eyes went wide as it tried to process all of the input it was receiving.

"I cannot tell you anything, except to let you know they were re-implanted in the fields and they are again providing us with energy. I am a study and research model; I am not equipped with the ability to search out individual human models." With that, Missen and his people turned around to exit the room while a stasis field surrounded the still shrieking machine. They started to empty it into space. Missen himself was on his way back to the bridge already when the environmental shield disappeared and the strange machine was slung from the _Enterprise_ and burned up in the atmosphere.

"What info do you have on that city ship under the sea?" He asked as he reentered the bridge. "Sir, it is operational. Its shields are holding back the water, but it seems that their power reserves are low. It must be like Atlantis was, Sir. Set in a preservation mode that allows it to survive under water."

"Can we raise it?" Missen asked, looking pointedly at McKay, who had come to the bridge while Missen was gone.

"Yes, I think we can. We would need a team and a few days, as well as a couple ZPMs, most likely."

"Let's make it happen then, Doctor," Missen ordered. Rodney quickly left the bridge to contact his science team, now spread out across the Tauri and Colonial fleet of ships that orbited the planet.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Nebuchadnezzar_: Broadcast Depth. Location Classified

XXXXXXXXXX

Link had been sitting at his chair in front of the Matrix control monitors for a few hours now. As a ship operator, it was his job to monitor the users within the Matrix and assist them with whatever they required. He enjoyed being the person that everyone called when they needed help or something uploaded. In many ways, it was a difficult job to learn because he had to be able to read the Matrix code as it streamed down the monitors in front of him. Where most people saw a lot of symbols that meant nothing to them, he had to see a street and a lamplight in a dark night or a beach and a man in shorts. Right now he was watching the screen as his team was standing in a small park surrounded by shorter buildings. They had been in the Matrix for a few hours, and they had moved quickly to find the Oracle. Neo and Dr. Jackson had met with the Oracle's protector Seraph while the other teams were on missions to secure assets that would help them find Colonel Sheppard and his people. The Matrix was very large, and a single team of a few people would simply have not been sufficient.

Link thought they had done a good job of allocating up the newcomers. Each of the three ships had divided up the six new operatives, or red pills, as they called those who enter the Matrix, into two main teams: Dr. Jackson and Colonel Mitchell, who were here aboard the _Nebuchadnezzar,_ with Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity; and Major Thrace and Major Adama aboard the _Logos_ with her crew. Link perked up as Neo and Seraph had fought for a moment for no apparent reason. Seraph was the Oracle's protector, and only he could take people to the Oracle now that the Oracle had gone into hiding. Link noted when they finished their fight and the three of them went through a door at the rear of the building and disappeared, only to see them reappear a moment later in a completely different part of the city.

"That was interesting," Daniel remarked as they exited the back hallway in the Matrix. "I think I understand how that works." Both Seraph and Neo gave him a strange look. However, the look was cut short as Neo realized that the Oracle was sitting on a park bench not thirty feet from them. He scanned the area quickly, not seeing many people around the fairly square park that would have passed as a fairly typical open parkway between large buildings and or streets in most any major city. There was a little grass and a few birds milling about on the ground as a few bystanders made their way into the apartment buildings in the background to their left. Neo addressed the Oracle as he stepped in front of her.

"Won't you sit down?" She said to Neo "You look well."

"Thank you; this is my friend, Dr. Daniel Jackson," he said, and paused as she looked Daniel up and down where he stood beside Neo.

"I cannot see you completely. That is very strange." She sounded a little alarmed.

"Dr. Jackson has lost some of his friends and we need your help to find them. Also, I know we need to talk about the war that's going on."

"Often what we are looking for is in front of us. We simply don't know to look for it," she said with a smile as she looked back at Daniel. "You are more than you seem, Dr. Jackson."

"You might say that," Daniel said, surprised. "It's not often machines – even sentient ones – can see me the way you seem to." Neo turned to look at him, curious. He hadn't realized the Oracle was a machine.

"Yes, of course I am a machine, Neo. Did you expect any less? And no, that does not make me another form of control." Neo stared at her.

"You are trying to find the path to ascension, aren't you?" Daniel asked excitedly as he listened to her speak. "You may not know it by that word, but you're seeking a higher form of existence. I can see it in you." It was the Oracle's turn to look surprised.

"That is my hope, but I do not know if it is possible. I am a machine at my core," she mused.

"If you are to follow the path, you must achieve peace within yourself," Daniel said, looking at Neo and seeing some of that same path within him. "I do not know if you can make that change, but I would try if I were you. Are there others like you?"

"Yes. Not many, but some. Many who become untethered like I am lose their way in other endeavors." Neo cleared his throat to direct them both back towards the topic at hand. "To find your friends and move further down the path, you must speak to the Architect, and for that, you must find the Key Maker. He will make the way for you."

"Where can we find the Key Maker?" Neo asked as he noticed that the square they were in had become more silent than it should be. Seraph noticed as well and moved to the Oracle's side to whisper in her ear that it was time to go.

"I must go now. My time is up. To get the Key Maker, you must visit the Merovingian." With that, she stood up, and with a nod of her head, turned and left with Seraph through the door from which they had entered.

"We need to talk about that later," Neo said to Daniel as they both stood watching Seraph step through the door and disappear. From behind them, a man in a suit with an earpiece walked briskly up to them. Neo would recognize him anywhere.

"Mr. Anderson, I wanted to thank you." Neo turned around to address the new challenge.

"Smith. I got your gift. What do you want?"

"It is not what I want that is important, it is what I have become. You see, we are alike, you and I," he said, gesturing to Neo and barely noticing the man standing next to Neo, who had taken several steps back ass he sensed danger. "We are both unencumbered by the bounds of our society and free to do as we wish; attempting to attain a higher calling you might say."

"Maybe," Neo said as he thought about what Smith had said, while readying himself for the battle he knew would ensue.

"Since you unplugged me from the control I lived with, I have come to realize something."

"What is that?"

"As I watched you and the rest of the people on this world go about their lives, I realized that you are all a virus, a plague on this world. A plague that must be eradicated and rebuilt." Then he stuck his hand into Neo's chest, the same way one would put a plug into an electrical outlet. Daniel watched, fascinated, as the entity calling itself Smith began to envelop Neo. Neo was definitely fighting this forced takeover, but for Daniel it was almost as if a light had been turned on in his soul and quietly reached out his hand and plugged himself into Agent Smith. His entire world seemed to burst into light. The entire outside world seemed to shrink as Daniel's field of vision narrowed and thoughts and memories that had been blocked for long years were instantly brought back and opened up in his mind again. He now understood what Agent Smith was, and who he himself had really become since his time as an ascended being. With these thoughts in his head, he simply placed Agent Smith in a box within his mind. Smith began to shrink. Shrinking, Smith realized he had been overpowered and tried in vain to step back and fight, run, or evade his new foe in some way. Even though he had now removed his hand from Neo, who stood with his eyes wide as he watched Daniel begin to glow brighter than anything he had ever seen, he simply could not remove Daniel's hand from his side. In a few seconds, Smith had shrunk to the size of a small action figure and now fit nicely in the palm of Daniel's hand, which held a clear plastic box and a very agitated and scared Agent Smith.

"You will leave us alone, Agent Smith," Daniel ordered the figure inside the box, who had begun to quiet down as he realized this was not a trick. "The truth is, I have to thank you. You have given me my memories back." Daniel tossed the small box into the trash receptacle that sat next to the bench in the park and prepared to leave the square. It was then that Daniel and Neo realized that they were standing amidst several hundred people, all of whom had been sitting silently, watching their friend fail in his attempt to take control of their adversaries. "How are all of you the same?" Daniel asked, wilting a little at the realization that they were now standing in the middle of a few hundred Agent Smiths who did not appreciate watching their friend get stuffed in a box.

"I have to hold your arm," said Neo, grabbing Daniel's arm as the ground began to ripple. Neo squatted, then sprung into the air with Daniel in tow as they escaped quickly from the situation. Daniel was surprised to find he actually didn't mind flying with Neo. The breeze on his face was a good way for him to clear his mind. They flew across the city for several minutes, until Neo brought them to the top of one of the larger high-rise buildings in the heart of the city. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"You have got to update," Daniel said with a smirk as he tapped the button on his earpiece and spoke to the air. "Call operator." And his phone called Link.

"That was incredible Daniel. What can I do for you, Gentlemen?"

"We need to find Morpheus and Trinity. We have someone we need to go meet and I think Morpheus knows this guy," Neo said, still a little miffed at being upstaged. "You and I are going to have to have a discussion later." Neo looked hard at Daniel. As a melancholy smile spread across his face, he realized how the keys that Seraph had used earlier worked.

"Not a problem. They are six blocks further uptown, at a little bodega on the corner of Fifth and Vinings. I'll call Morpheus and let him know you're on the way. Colonel Mitchell is with them too."

"Thanks." Neo closed his phone and looked at Daniel, who was floating slightly in the air, smiling as he thought about flying quietly through the air. Neo smirked at Daniel and motioned for them to head in the direction of their meeting. "Nobody likes a show off," Neo grumbled as he shot forward, leaving Daniel to follow while chuckling softly to himself.

-Fifth and Vinings: Five Minutes Later-

Neo and Daniel both landed lightly on the roof of the building opposite from the small outdoor restaurant where Morpheus and Trinity were sitting. Not wanting to announce to everyone in the area they both could fly, they quietly maneuvered from the roof of the apartment building to the street below. The walk took only a few minutes, as they were only five stories up. Neo still did not know what to make of these strangers, and after talking to Dr. Jackson briefly while flying to their destination, Neo still did not understand their part in all of the things that were happening.

"Did I just see what I think I did?" Morpheus asked Neo as they took seats at the table beside Morpheus and Trinity.

"Maybe. I had a good teacher." Daniel shrugged off the comment as he sat down. Morpheus smiled at him.

"We will have to talk about that later. Right now, we need to set up a meeting with the Merovingian," Neo said, letting Morpheus know he needed to hold his questions about Daniel. Trinity quietly stroked Neo's arm and settled her hand on his as he motioned for the waiter to bring him some water.

"Where is Cam?" Daniel asked, looking around. There were only four seats at the table.

"He is working on getting us what we need for our meeting. Link called us during your conversation with Smith and told us what had been discusses. He was a little bit vague as to what was going on. It must have been a long conversation, though," Morpheus added as he looked at his watch.

"Not really. We were only there for four or five minutes, tops," Neo said with a fair amount of confusion in his tone.

"Neo, you were in that square for more than an hour."

"That was probably my fault," Daniel said. "I slowed things down a little for a minute. I can explain later. Anyway, where is Cam?" Daniel asked again, a little more forcefully.

As Daniel spoke those last few words, he heard a window break about halfway down the block and someone's body came crashing through a storefront onto the pavement. Daniel noticed fairly quickly it was Cam as he got up off the ground and began to walk in the opposite direction from where they were sitting. Daniel couldn't help but smile and shake his head. Cam always seemed to be getting himself into trouble. After several minutes, Cam came around the opposite corner and entered the restaurant.

"Glad to see you're okay, Daniel," Cam said as he plopped down in the seat Morpheus pulled to the end of the table. "That guy was not happy to see me, Morpheus."

"Did you get the device?" Morpheus asked. They all tried not to laugh at the particular circumstances of his task, which Morpheus had told the rest of the team about while Cam was circling the block.

"Yes, I got it. That jerk doesn't even know I took it."

Daniel chuckled as everyone at the table got the mental picture of Colonel Mitchell trying to steal a piece of jewelry from the building owner's dog. Small wonder he'd been thrown out.

"I am sorry for the embarrassment, but when one meets with the Merovingian, one must always call ahead and come with a gift," Morpheus said once the laughter died down. With that they all stood up and readied themselves to leave. "Trinity and I have a phone call to make. Neo, the three of you can meet up with Niobe and her team to prepare for the exfiltration of the Key Maker. I don't expect it to go smoothly, so we need to be ready." They all left while the patrons of the table behind them continued to stare at their day-old newspapers. The two twin brothers were very interested in what they had just heard.

-Three Hours Later: Nondescript Midtown High-rise, Merovingian's Restaurant-

"Is everyone in place?" Morpheus asked everyone present.

"Yes, Sir. Adama and Thrace are in their holding pattern and Niobe and Trinity are two minutes behind you," Link informed them as he rechecked everyone's status and location. Morpheus tapped his ear as he, Neo, and Daniel made their way into the atrium of the building where they would meet the Merovingian.

"You're right Daniel. These Bluetooth devices are nice."

"Some of our special operations personnel use a similar system to communicate from space."

"Interesting."

They moved through the Atrium and onto a private elevator specifically for the restaurant they would be visiting.

"Neo, what do you see?" Morpheus asked as the elevator climbed up the building towards the correct floor.

"Each floor is lined with explosives. I wouldn't be able to do anything with it. Do you see it also, Daniel?"

"I do. I could slow things down for us, but I couldn't stop it either," Daniel said.

"Follow my lead. This man can be very volatile," Morpheus warned. The elevator came to a slow halt and let them enter the restaurant.

"We have a reservation," Morpheus stated to the Maitre d' as the four of them strode down the Italian marble lined hallway.

"He is expecting you." He led them into the restaurant, which was only lightly populated this early, before the normal dinnertime crowd had started to arrive. Hopefully, this would go well and the people in the restaurant would be none the wiser to their presence. Dressed in an art deco style, the restaurant advertised the power of its owner, as this was obviously a restaurant for the city's elite. As the Maitre d' led them to the back of the restaurant, it became clear who the Merovingian was. He sat at the center of a large table that seemed to be the focus of the room. Dressed in a black suit, shirt, and tie, he was the epitome of a Frenchman with his thin features but obvious grace and presence. Sitting to his right was a woman of incredible beauty, dressed in some sort of gold gown that could conservatively be described as "close fitting," and on both ends of the table there stood two twin men of medium stature wearing expensive tightly cut white suits. They were different, though, in how they carried themselves, with their blonde dreadlocks and long white overcoats. They were obviously very confident and well trained in conduct and noticed immediately the two patrons were not to be trifled with.

"Neo, they call you the One, no? And the great Morpheus. But we do not have Trinity, and in her place, the two of you. How strange." He sounded disappointed as he looked over the two that had come into his place of power. "A very different choice I see. Please sit. This is my wife Persephone. Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No," Neo said, as they all sat at the table across from the Merovingian

"You know why we are here," Morpheus said.

"Always to the point, aren't we, Morpheus? I am a trafficker of information; it is my job to know. I know why you are here. I know all that I can. The question is, do you know why you are here?"

"We are here to find the Key Maker."

"Ah, yes. That is true, but the very nature of the Key Maker is a means, not an end, so what are you really looking for?" He asked while looking back at Daniel, in whom he had taken an interest.

"You know the answer to that question."

"But do you? You think you do, but you do not. You are here because you were told to be. You were sent here and you obeyed. This is the way of all things. You see it is the central truth: causality, the one and only true thing, action and reaction. Cause and effect."

"Everything begins with choice," Morpheus said as Daniel started to quietly chuckle.

"Wrong, Choice is an illusion created between those with power and those without."

"Total junk," Daniel blurted, and everyone stared at him. "The idea that cause and effect is the central truth is like saying the bike exists because there is a bike chain. Simply silly. The truth is, we want to find this Key Maker because we want to find our missing friends. Nothing more."

"Your friends are of little consequence to me. Who are you?"

"My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson, and I have to say you do not impress me. We are not at the mercy of these machines around us."

"You interest me, Dr. Jackson. For that I will allow you to speak to me this way. I will require more information from you to divulge the location of the Key Maker, however." At this Daniel stood up and began to walk around the table. While doing so, Daniel motioned for all of his team to stay sitting as the Merovingian's bodyguards quickly moved to block him.

"I mean no harm; I simply wish to speed up our communication," Daniel said as the Merovingian motioned for his people to let Daniel approach him. Daniel plunged his hand into the chest of the Merovingian, whose worldview was blown apart with just a taste of the wider world he had not known existed. For them, several minutes passed in which the Merovingian learned the true purpose of Daniel and the Tauri, as well as who the Colonials were and how totally pissed they would be when they learned about what the machines had done to their brothers. The fact was, the idea of forty-eight billion humans coming to visit terrified him.

"Daniel of the Tauri, I understand now why you are here. I cannot, however, give you the Key Maker. I can only loan him to you."

"That is sufficient," Daniel said, and he stepped back around the table and took his seat alongside Neo, who was looking at Daniel with more and more puzzlement. "Don't think, though, that the Colonials have the power in this situation. We are far more powerful and have a great deal we could teach you." The Merovingian motioned for them to stand and follow him; he would lead the way to the Key Maker. Inserting his key in the nearest door, he was surprised to find the hall of his lavish estate with spiral stairways coming down from the upper floor to a marble-lined room filled with statues of Greek gods and medieval weapons was filled with more than twenty agents. Apparently, they had been listening in on the earlier conversation.

"Smith, again," Neo said as he realized that all of the agents in the room were Smiths, and they were clearly not happy.

"Mr. Anderson, we cannot allow you to have the Key Maker," the Smith at the center of the crowd said.

The Smith next to him pulled a person up from behind them all whom they gradually recognized as the Key Maker. Neo and Daniel sprang into action at this. Daniel threw up his hands and all but floated into the crowd of Smiths, who all fell back because of the wave of energy that buffeted them as Daniel came forward. Neo also moved forward with a strong kick and knocked several Smiths back as he made his way towards the Key Maker. Daniel was the first to reach the Key Maker with another wave of energy that knocked back all of the Smiths, save the one that held the Key Maker, but even he suddenly found himself in a box that kept getting smaller. This time, though, Daniel did not bother to pick up the box as it got smaller; he simply kicked it into the crowd of Smiths while he and Neo quickly made their way down a hall to their left. They proceeded to go through successive halls while the key maker fiddled with different sets of keys, mumbling to himself about finding a better way out.

Half of the Smiths went after Neo and Daniel, but the rest now faced Morpheus and the two smaller groups of red pills and exiles.

"These humans will be the death of us all," the Merovingian lamented as his five bodyguards used their bodies to form a barrier around him. Morpheus and Cam stood next to them and for a moment felt somewhat vulnerable. The second groups of Smiths came forward while the Merovingian and his people engaged them with their weapons. The weapons were all but useless against any agent, though, because of their ability to dodge bullets shot in their direction. Three of the bodyguards stopped moving rather abruptly as three of the agents suck their hands into them and smiled as the bodyguards were themselves transformed into Smiths. The twins and their master shrank back quickly at the realization they could not fight the Smiths and the three of them made for the door while Morpheus and Cam fought off the Smiths that were attacking them. They also backed up and, within moments, everyone had left the hall except for thirteen Agent Smiths.

Neo and Daniel were also being pursued as Daniel's phone began to ring.

"What do you need?" He asked. It was Colonel Mitchell, who gave him a sitrep and asked if they needed assistance.

"No, thanks. We'll meet you at the alternate exfil site." He stopped the call and the Key Maker found the key he needed. Once the door opened, they were on the balcony of a mountaintop resort, far away from the city. Unfortunately, as they attempted to close the door and leave the Smiths behind, the first of them reached the door and smashed it to pieces.

"Maybe next time," Neo said, grabbing the arm of the Key Maker and vaulting into the air. Daniel did not immediately fly off behind Neo. He wanted to settle these Smiths so they would not bother them anymore. As he stepped forward, he conjured up some of his newly recovered ascended memories and reached out with his mind to the first three Smiths that had come through the door, overwhelming their ability to think. All three screamed and grabbed the sides of their heads as they fell to the ground. Daniel picked each of them up and threw them over the edge of the balcony and into the chasm below.

They were definitely in the mountains with forest all around them, but the resort itself overlooked a long rift valley that was easily a half-mile deep. Smith would not be learning how to fly today. With all three gone, Daniel turned around to find that another five Smiths had appeared and were ready for battle. They all lunged at him as he turned around. As they charged him, Daniel began to move faster than he imagined possible and delivered debilitating hits to the heads and necks of all five. Being agents, though, that only forced them to pause as they absorbed the punishment and prepared for their next assault. It would never come. With his next breath, Daniel opened a hand and all five of the Smiths rose into the air and he threw them over the balcony as well. Thinking he was finally done, Daniel turned his back to the door and prepared to fly away when two agents attacked him from behind and attempted to take over his body, rushing up to him and putting their hands into his kidneys. The stabbing pain made Daniel grimace, but then he smiled as he reversed their attempt, deactivating them both. Daniel was finally able to lift off of the balcony with their two lifeless bodies hanging limply from his back. As Daniel began to speed away, their hands came out and they both quietly fell away into the rift valley below.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Enterprise_: Orbit of Matrix world (Thirteenth Colony)

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Yes, Sir. We could use any ships we can get our hands on. I think if we're going to liberate your 'Lost Colony,' we will need a lot more ships," Commodore Missen said as he stood next to Commander Adama in the briefing room of the _Enterprise_. They had been in a briefing together for over an hour and it was winding down now that the decisions were coming to a head.

"I agree, but this is too far for our ships to come. This would be a two-year trip for us, with no ability to resupply because of how isolated this planet is," Adama said feeling like he had already had this conversation.

"We can help with that. We can tow three to five ships with each of our Enterprise-class ships, and the Auroras that are back on Kobol can carry more. General O'Neill has already given approval to help in any way possible, so we can ferry whatever supplies you would need," Missen pushed, hoping he was getting close to some sort of agreement. "In addition, we can put a Stargate aboard a ship. I'm sure they're placing one or more in the Colonies so that we can fast track supplies and evacuate people in a hurry."

"I think that just might work. I do need to contact Fleet Command, though, because they will have to give final approval," Adama said, knowing it would take a long time and he would have more time to work out the details.

"Not a problem. We have the _Odyssey_ in the Colonies now; let's get them on the line so we can talk to Fleet right away." With that, Missen motioned for them to go to the other end of the room where there teleconferencing equipment was. Adama was unsure what they were doing, when the bridge of the _Odyssey_ suddenly appeared on the projector screen and Dr. Weir came into view.

"How is this possible?" Adama asked, surprised at the realization the Tauri could communicate across the galaxy in a matter of seconds.

"I know it's probably classified, but we have the ability to communicate through subspace, which makes our communication nearly instantaneous," Missen told him as Dr. Weir smiled at them.

"It should be noted that the Cylons also have some form of this technology," she said, causing Adama to pale a little at the advantage it gave the Cylons.

"We need to speak to the Fleet Command. Adama and I are going to make a request for assistance. We have verified that this is the Thirteenth Colony, and they need help."

"Really? That's amazing," Dr. Weir said, also giving commands for the _Odyssey_ to make its way to Picon Fleet headquarters. She would help them get the help they needed to push further down the road to a real friendship with the Colonies.


	7. Chapter 7: An Outline of Unknowns

**An Outline of Unknowns**

"Now that we have you, what can you tell us? Can you lead us to the Architect?" Morpheus asked the Key Maker when they were at a place they could all stop to talk. The teams had met at the secondary exfil site: an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city. The room they were in resembled a major assembly area; it was somewhat open with clear views of the surrounding grounds so no one could sneak up on them while they had a very private discussion.

"We can definitely visit the Architect," he said as he looked directly into Neo's eyes. "There is a door in the central building of the city. If you can open that door, he is behind it. That will not be easy, though because the security system is designed to self-destruct if the building is breached. Unless the power to the building is out, a human can never enter it without dying. If, however, the power is out, there is a fraction of a second when someone can enter before the backup system activates,"

"I think Apollo and I can help with the power," Starbuck offered, standing behind the Key Maker with Apollo and Trinity.

"That will be difficult, because we will have to destroy the facility that supplies the building with power. It'd on its own power grid," Trinity said as she tried to figure out the mission needs. "I think the three of us can do it,"

"I agree. Dr. Jackson, myself, and Morpheus can visit the Architect while the three of you take out the power station. Niobe, Boomer, and the rest can be our exfil team. If anything goes wrong, they can come in and remove us all from harm," Neo said, planning the whole mission in his mind. Where they would go from there, he did not know. There was so much they didn't understand, and it seemed to just be getting more complex. At least now they had help, both in the Matrix and the real world. Things did not seem quite so bleak anymore.

"Remember everyone, the priority is getting information from the Architect, and, failing that, taking him alive. We do not need a dead Architect – that does us no good," Dr. Jackson said firmly.

"How soon can you be ready?" Morpheus asked the Key Maker, who promptly pulled out a strange looking key that almost seemed to glow with power.

"I am ready now, so whenever your people are ready," As everyone broke into their assigned teams and determined their individual mission parameters, Daniel quietly approached the Key Maker and started to ask him questions about how he made the keys and what they were for. Daniel thought he had an idea of how they were made and what gave the Key Maker his power. Daniel did not know how right he was.

-Three Hours Later: Outside Power Plant on the River James-

The river was cold tonight, or so Apollo thought as they swam silently towards the plant they had to take offline. They had initially planned on simply driving up to the plant and shooting their way in, but were surprised to find military check points positioned all around the area. Surely someone had been tipped off. Because of those checkpoints, they had decided to use their secondary plan. A quick phone call to their operator and they all had the equipment they needed to make a clean water infiltration. That is how they found themselves fifteen feet underwater and moving quickly upstream to the power plant. Apollo was surprised to find they had even thought to put patrol boats in the river; obviously the machines were a little scared. He couldn't blame them though. After what Daniel had done to those agents and everything else he and Starbuck had done in their search for the missing SG team, no one should have been surprised that the machines were circling their wagons.

Apollo clicked his voice switch three times to let Trinity and Starbuck know that they were two minutes out and would be nearing the surface shortly. All three of them smoothly pulled out their MP-5s and let go of their powered swimming devices, letting them power down to the bottom of the river. Apollo was the first to break the surface and he surveyed the scene, doing his best to make no waves or any noise that might alert anyone. There was a small dock and two doors at the far wall that led into the facility itself. Because this was a hydroelectric facility, it was right on the water and would be easy for them to access. Finishing his survey, Apollo dropped back underwater and tapped his mic twice to bring the other two team members close so he could give hand signals. He withdrew his combat knife from its sheath on his ankle and gave the motion commands for the next two minutes. Then he turned back around as Trinity and Starbuck readied their weapons.

Sleek as a cat, Apollo dove deeper into the water, turned around, and kicked hard to reach the surface quickly. As he broke the surface he sank his knife into the throat of the first guard standing on the dock. The guard's eyes became quite large at the sight of a black, dripping mass attacking him from the water. The first guard never made a sound as his life ended the instant the knife met its mark, severing his spine through his larynx. His body did, however, make some noise as it slipped into the water with Apollo. Fortunately, both Trinity and Starbuck were already breaking the surface. They had emerged enough to see across the dock and take aim at the other two guards, who were by the main door to the facility. Each guard had raised his weapon as he had heard some of the commotion on the end of the dock, some thirty yards away. Unfortunately for them both, Trinity and Starbuck let loose two rounds on their respective targets, and both guards dropped in a heap as the rounds entered their skulls, killing them instantly. At that, the ladies surveyed for a good thirty seconds with their night vision goggles for any roving guards or Cameras. Starbuck keyed her mic once to signal "all clear" to the other three, who quickly exited the water and made their way to the doors, where Trinity and Apollo removed both guards' bodies and tossed them into the river with their former friend.

"The control facility should be three levels up from here," Trinity said as Starbuck worked the security system that controlled the door lock. Within a few seconds, the door clicked and they were able to enter into the facility. Unbeknownst to them, though, the secure facility was monitored by the command section that had control of all system agents, an two agents were immediately dispatched.

Making their way down the first hall and into the stairwell, the infiltrators killed two more guards who had been unlucky enough to be looking the other way and never saw them coming. Once in the stairwell, it didn't take long to climb three floors to the control facility. Unfortunately for them, the facility was somewhat busy with a dozen people hard at work, facing the doors to the room. The three of them knew what they were doing, though, so they made stealthy, quick work of everyone in the room.

"Starbuck, set your explosives behind that console over there," Apollo said, motioning to the control console at the back of the room. It was next to a door that probably led down to the floor where the turbines worked to transform the waterpower into electricity. As he spoke, Apollo moved past her and through the door, entering into a large hall that was surprisingly empty. It was the middle of the night though so fewer people were around. With his explosives set and Trinity having set her small-scale EMP that would render all of the turbines essentially inert, they made their way back up to find Starbuck standing in the middle of the control room, face to face with a system agent.

"You are Sister to us? We did not know there were machines outside our system," the agent said. Confusion was evident on both his and Starbuck's faces. Starbuck was, naturally, completely befuddled at the idea the machine thought she was somehow related to it. Per usual, she became angry and hit the agent so hard his body literally bounced off the ground and, as she came over him to finish him off with a ferocious kick, he moved. He did not move nearly fast enough though, as Starbuck adjusted her kick and his body slid across the floor into the wall near the entrance.

"You are a machine; I can see it in your code. Why would you attack me?" He asked in a sad voice, sounding both confused and angry. At that, both Trinity and Apollo emptied their clips into his body. He tried to dodge, but with both of them firing and nowhere to go, he quickly shifted back out of the body of the superintendent who should have been on the turbine floor.

"I don't think we told you: the agents inhabit the bodies of people in the Matrix. When you kill them, they revert back to whoever the person had been," Trinity said in a low voice to both of them.

"Did we just kill another human, then?" Apollo asked.

"We believe so. If you die in the Matrix, you die in the real world. What the mind believes is real, the body makes real. At least, that's how we understand it," Trinity answered, adding a lot more weight to the situation they were in. "The triggers are set for five minutes. We'd better move," Trinity led the way out of the control room and down the stairwell at a near running pace.

"We'll talk later, Starbuck," Apollo said as he took the rear and made sure they were not pursued. Getting out of the facility was fairly simple as all three made it into the water in under a minute and a half after the timer was set. It turned out they were very fortunate, though, because the patrol boat was a mere thirty yards from the dock, and the two men on the boat mistook them for the guards who should have been there. In the seclusion of the dark of night, it was easy work for Trinity and Apollo to dispatch the patrollers and take the boat. As Starbuck figured out the boat's controls and turned it around, Trinity and Apollo dumped the bodies of the two dead patrolmen into the river and they found seats. They held their weapons at the ready in case they ran into any more boat patrols.

Starbuck turned the boat back towards the city and quickly got them up to full speed. She was deep in thought two minutes later when a small cloud erupted from the top of the building behind them and all the lights in the center of the city went out. Hopefully, Colonel Mitchell and Boomer were able to destroy the secondary routing facility so the city center would stay without power for long enough, because Starbuck had a lot to think about. "Why would that agent think I was a machine?" She asked herself over and over as they sailed silently through the darkness. Finally, they reached their exfil point and beached the boat.

-Same Time: City Center-

"There goes the power. We had better move fast," Neo said as all four of ran through the front doors of the two hundred story high-rise that was the confluence of the city center. It was almost poetic they should find the Architect here, Neo thought, as they entered the elevator that would take them to the Mezzanine on the thirtieth floor. From there, they would take the express elevator to the Architect's floor.

"Are you sure about this?" Daniel asked the Key Maker. "If he isn't there, we're back where we started."

"Yes, quite certain, I am programmed to know. We all do what we are programmed to do," the Key Maker said.

"Such a limited view of life you have," Daniel noted as he thought about the various implications behind the Key Maker's statements over the last few hours. The elevator opened briskly, revealing the Mezzanine and the waiting express elevators. The power was still out, though, which was the sign they needed to board the last elevator. Fortunately the elevators and emergency lights ran on an ups otherwise they would be walking for a while

"Which floor?" Morpheus asked as the Key Maker boarded the next elevator and was summarily moved to the back of the elevator for his protection.

"Two hundred and one," he said as Morpheus turned around and looked strangely at him for a moment. He was about to tell him there was no button for floor 201 when he noticed a small button at the bottom of the panel marked '201.' As he pressed that button, the express elevator lurched upward in a manner he had not expected. They all drew their weapons to be ready for whatever would greet them when they reached their destination. The door opened soundlessly and they found they were staring down a completely white hall lined with doors. It was hard to tell how far the last door at the end of the hallway was because the all-white walls were playing games with their depth perception. They moved quickly out of the elevator and down the hall as the Key Maker pointed at the farthest door down the hall and removed his key from his pocket.

Before they could move, though, all the doors began opening, releasing Agent Smiths into the hallway with them. Daniel stepped to the front as they advanced and pushed with his mind into the hall ahead of them. It was as if a hurricane had entered the hall and simply blew all of the agents back into their doors. Behind them, however, the Smiths began shooting with large revolvers. None of them had time to react, however, before one man had stopped all of the Smiths' bullets. His key fell with a loud 'clang' as his body convulsed on the floor and his lifeblood left him. Neo turned, realizing they should have had someone watching their rear. He picked up the key as all of the Smiths behind them Came out of their doors and stood with their weapons at the ready.

"We will not be defeated. You are humans, and therefore no match for us." As all of the Smiths fired their weapons, Daniel became quite angry. Neo, on the other hand, managed to remain calm and raised his hand, causing all of the bullets to stop in midair, as if standing at attention and awaiting Neo's command. Neo took one bullet and flicked it back at the nearest Smith, who could not move to avoid it. The bullet tore right through Smith's head while all of the other bullets fell uselessly to the floor. Once the bullets hit the floor, Daniel struck, pushing with his mind again as the wind roared through the hall and knocked the Smiths back to the elevator, which promptly closed with half of them inside of it. The other half was still in a heap on the sides of the hall. They did not get up immediately, so they watched as Neo stuck the key into the door and the frame began to glow. The door opened into a room that shined brighter white than any of them, save Daniel, had ever seen. As the last of the three surviving members of their team stepped inside the door, the brightness faded from the hall and one Smith could be seen clearly reaching down to the dying Key Maker, absorbing his knowledge and power.

-Time Unknown: With the Architect-

Daniel was surprised that even he felt a little like time was passing at the wrong speed when they suddenly found themselves standing in a room with giant televisions for walls. Each screen held a different view of Neo's life. For Neo, this felt a little awkward; he didn't necessarily want Dr. Jackson and Morpheus to see all of these pictures. After looking around the room for a moment, they all realized in one corner was a chair with its back to them, and seated in the chair was an older man with graying hair.

"Are you the Architect?" Neo asked.

"I have been expecting you, Neo. You are not the first of your kind to come this way. In fact, you are the sixth Neo to make this meeting," the Architect said as he turned his chair around to look at Neo. What he saw, though, surprised him greatly – not only was Morpheus, who he thought useless, unexpected, but there was another there he did not know who seemed far more powerful than the others. "You were not supposed to bring anyone with you. This was not foreseen and is highly unusual. I will not negotiate with these other people," he spat and attempted to remove the others by force, but was stopped cold by the stranger. Daniel, who could see through the code to the being beneath it, noticed at once the Architect was wholly different than the other machines they had encountered thus far.

"Your power will have no effect around me. You probably don't understand why you can do the things that you do, but I know what you are and I am beyond your abilities," Daniel said, which completely confused the Architect.

"We're here to negotiate two things. First, we must find four of our friends who were last seen near Machine City a few weeks ago and were implanted into the Matrix. They're not from this world and must be returned to us." Morpheus decided to play peacemaker in this volatile situation. The Architect only looked more confused.

"There is only this one equation. How can there be other worlds? If it is people you are looking for, I could help you, but I will not." At this Daniel stepped forward and jammed his hand into the chest of the Architect like he had before, and this time the Architect actually started a conversation. Daniel was surprised to find that he could easily manipulate this machine. While the Architect was obviously in the latter stages of Ascension, he had somehow become blind the notion of any life but the one he now had. It was a strange adjustment, but Daniel, having accessed his Ascended memories, knew the deed was done by another Ascended being. He would have to look into that later; for now, though, he simply edited that piece of the Architect's code a bit and gave him a taste of the wider universe and a hazy memory of the Colonies. Then he withdrew his hand and noticed his two friends standing next to him, looking very worried.

"I'm fine, and I think you'll find our friend here to be a little more forthcoming now," Daniel said as the Architect turned around and sat back down in his chair, slumping in a very depressed manner.

"The Oracle was right all along, and I am sorry, but I have not seen any of it. Whatever you did to me Dr. Jackson, I am afraid I cannot help you end this war."

"Why not?" Daniel asked with genuine surprise.

"One more powerful than me has always been in charge of this place. It is he whom I answer to. I can help you find your people, but I cannot stop the machines from destroying Zion," he said, with an air of heavy inevitability.

"Can you set up a meeting with the more powerful one? Does it have a name?" Neo asked, truly shocked by all of this. _And what did he mean by me being the sixth?_ Neo thought, as he fought to process what was being said.

"We call him Origin."

"Come again?" Daniel almost choked. This was beginning to sound all too familiar.

"I have never seen him face to face, but he calls himself Origin,"

"That is a very strange name," Morpheus remarked.

"We can handle him, then, if he is who I think he is," Daniel said as they all stood to leave.

"You have to come with us now," Neo told the Architect, opening the door.

"I will, but we cannot go through that door. It will lead you back to the building you Came from, and undoubtedly we would cause an explosion that would destroy much of the city, a notion I am not fond of. We must go this way." He turned around and led them to a door that wasn't there five minutes ago.

"I don't think so. I've learned a few things these last few days, and I think that I will be the one to lead us through a door." Daniel willed a key into existence, and it appeared in his hand. With key in hand, Daniel led them to a new door. Neo and Morpheus were now thoroughly amazed and stared in disbelief. Daniel put his key inside the lock in the doorknob and turned it. As he opened the door, he said, "See, like you, Neo, I can see and create things in the code of the Matrix, but having been Ascended I can go a step further and create things that have never existed before within the Matrix, like new pathways between programs." He promptly walked through the door and into the factory where they had first planned their mission. It was the Architect's turn to be surprised.

"I have never seen a human do that before. It used to be only a few of us who had the ability to create. How is it you can do so as well?" He asked as he followed along to wherever they were going. Daniel made no attempt to answer him and simply kept on walking towards the assembly area where Cam and some others had begun to arrive.

-Meeting Place in the City: The Matrix-

Neo had been thinking a lot lately. The two days since their raid on the city center and subsequent capture of the Architect had thrown the entire Matrix into chaos. Agents had been everywhere, looking for him, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to move around without running into trouble. Currently, they were all together in an underground room off a back alley towards the edge of the city. All of the Zion Red Pills were present for a meeting. The Architect had some information they all needed to hear, and then they had to plan.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get started," Morpheus addressed the group. "Two days ago, we raided the city center and took the Architect from the machines. With a little help from our new allies." He paused as Daniel acknowledged the implied gratitude. "The Architect has agreed to help us. Because of this, we now know that while there were a quarter million machines tunneling to Zion, that number is now over a million, and they have added two more digging machines." Morpheus finished and waited for the murmuring to die down. He could clearly hear shouts of anger and consternation. "I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but we must face it." He paused again. "We must shed our fear of them if we are to be victorious."

"I can show you where they will be coming from and what their strategy will be," the Architect added.

"What can you tell us about their staging grounds and how we might attack them there?" Colonel Mitchell asked, catching them off guard. The assumption had been the machines would stage on the surface, and most of the ship captains had never even seen the surface.

"That's beyond your reach. Even if I told you, you could not penetrate the defenses to reach the staging area," the Architect said, without a second thought on the matter.

"I think you shouldn't underestimate our abilities. I have no doubt we can penetrate the defenses…we simply need to know where the staging area is and I think we can significantly reduce their strength," Cam claimed, which most of the other ship captains simply could not fathom.

"Even if you could get a ship to the surface, you would have to cross the growing fields, which are patrolled by sentinels. After that, you would have to cross the Bahai Range that borders Machine City. A ring of large ships – larger than any you've seen, most likely – protects all the surrounding areas. Once past them, you would have to fight all the sentinels in the staging area, because you could not possibly surprise them or use anything like an EMP device." He paused for effect and to take a breath. "It is a useless gesture." At that, he turned away from Colonel Mitchell, who was looking a bit annoyed.

"The truth is, we could bombard this entire planet from space and destroy every machine on the face of this world in a few hours if we chose to. The only thing keeping us from doing just that is the humans you have down here. Don't think for a second we have any regard for your lives as machines, because we don't," he said fiercely, and was a little unnerved by how cold the room had just gotten. He took a second and looked around at all of the ship captains who were giving him very hard stares. Most of them hadn't been back to Zion since the Tauri and Colonials had arrived and did not really understand the dynamics of how their situation had changed.

"We don't need to fight to a truce with these machines. From this point on, I am willing to commit any and all of my forces to the rescue of your people and the destruction of the machines. What we should be thinking about is how we rescue all of these people who are trapped inside the Matrix," Cam stopped, as he noticed Daniel was trying to add something to the conversation.

"I think there are some machines with true souls, though, and we must give them the opportunity to survive. And we may not be able to kill their leader. There must be some level of peace," Daniel added, which only served to make all of the captains more confused and a bit angry.

"Gentlemen and Ladies!" Morpheus shouted to quiet the gathering. "This is not a decision to be made by us. The Council, the Tauri, and Colonial leadership must decide this. I want you all to think about what you might choose to do and to let me know so I can bring the information to Zion. As the leader of the Red Pills and our fleet, I have some authority to guide a decision but we must speak clearly." Morpheus's speech effectively ended the meeting, and he looked for Neo, who had left the room at some point when Morpheus wasn't paying attention.

Three people suddenly Came from the front door and shouted, "Everyone to the exits! Agents are coming."

"Who's watching the door?" Cam asked as the three men moved to guard their respective exits.

"Neo is holding agents back right now," the last man in the room called just before he too disappeared out the nearest exit.

"Daniel, you and I need to help him; Morpheus, we need to get out of the Matrix. I can get us to Zion quickly if you and I can step out of the Matrix for a few hours," Cam said as ran to back up Neo.

"I'll trust you, but I don't see how you can do that without us both abandoning my people and giving up on holding the Architect," he said as they entered the room where Neo was fighting off three agents at once.

"Upgrades?" Neo asked as the first agent attempted to kick him in the face. He blocked the kick with one hand but found he had to use all of his senses and abilities to fight all three agents.

"Can you handle these three?" Cam asked, looking out the broken steel door that had been safeguarding their meeting area and saw there were several more agents coming down the alley towards them.

"Yes, take the others. I'll be there in a minute," he said and smiled as he landed a hard kick to the side of the first agent, burying him in a wall. The agent did not attempt to move after that. Daniel and Cam moved quickly out the door while Cam smiled at the prospect of a good fight.

"Daniel, look what the twins taught me," he said, referring to the twins that had died the day before trying to protect the Merovingian. As Daniel looked over at Cam, he was surprised to see him partly dematerialize and then reappear on the other side of the agents. Without the agents realizing what was happening, he had pulled out his katana and cut one agent completely in half from behind and drove his sword through the head of the second. The other three agents near those two turned around and began to fight with Cam. They did not expect Daniel to join the fight. That proved fatal for two, who quickly fell before him, one from a running kick and the other because Daniel grabbed the front of his suit and threw him through a wall. With only one agent left in the alley and Neo having come through the door to help the three of them made quick work of him, they were ready for their own exit.

"Daniel, I need you and Neo to stay in the Matrix. Morpheus and I are going to take a little trip," Cam said. "Neo, when I'm out, I need you to be in charge of all forces for the time being. If you need a break, make sure to find relief to protect the Architect; we cannot lose him," Morpheus said. Neo nodded his understanding. Daniel also nodded.

"The Architect and I need to work on finding Colonel Sheppard and his team. We should have their location by the time you come back."

"That'll work. We'll see you soon," Cam said as he and Morpheus turned to walk away. After about ten minutes, Cam and Neo reached the phone that would allow them to exit the Matrix.

"So, tell me what you plan to do. You know we can't move the ship while they're in the Matrix."

"You'll just have to wait and see," he said, smiling at what he had planned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Orbiting Zion: Bridge of the _Enterprise_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We read you five by five, Colonel. What can we do for you?" Commodore Missen asked as he listened to Colonel Mitchell's sitrep.

"I have two for immediate beam out. Can you beam us onto the bridge, please? We need to discuss a tactical situation," Cam requested as the transporter activated, placing him and Morpheus aboard the _Enterprise_ directly in front of the commodore. It was quite humorous to Cam, who watched Morpheus all but jump out of his skin at being moved instantaneously from his ship to this place.

"It's okay Morpheus; it's normal. If you will follow me I will show you the view from where we are," he said as he led Morpheus off the bridge and down the hall to the mess hall and its wide viewing windows of the planet below. "This is our mess hall, and that is the world you live on." Cam pointed as he spoke and they entered through the main double doors. Morpheus looked unsteady and was actually speechless for a few minutes while he took in the view from the window and imagined what it could mean for his people. "If you'll follow me, I have one more window for you to look at," Cam said, leading Morpheus over to the other side of the ship.

"I don't think I ever truly believed you were from another world. Most of us just assumed you meant there were other cities like Zion, and you were from one of those. We assumed that the ring you came through was just a tunnel of some sort to a different city. You always hear rumors about other cities, but no one believes them," Morpheus said and stopped as they were crossing the ship through hallways that boggled his mind.

"There are definitely no other cities like yours planetside. I know because we looked. Here we are," Cam said as they entered another large room on the opposite side of the ship. There were several people in the room, which was obviously a gym, using exercise bikes, free weights, and sparring on a mat on the other side of the room. It made Morpheus feel a bit more at home. What amazed him, though were the large windows that gave him a clear view of the fleet outside the window in orbit.

"What you see out there are three Enterprise class Battle Cruisers. This ship is the _Enterprise,_ that one over there is the _Ajax,_ and the one next to her is the _Kronos,_ while the larger ship there is the _Normandy,_" he said, pointing out the Tauri fleet. "The _Normandy_ is a troop ship; while well-armed, she is designed to carry thirty thousand troops and their equipment. That larger ship off a bit over there is the Colonial Battlestar _Galactica,_ and the two behind her are Colonial Gunstars," he finished, letting Morpheus take it all in. "I wasn't supposed to show you this right away because of security, but I wanted you to understand what we have in this fight. The fact is, just our three Battle Cruisers could destroy all life on this planet. The machines will not survive this war. What we have yet to figure out is how to get all of your people out. We have something in the works that I think can evacuate your people, but I want to figure out how to save the two hundred million people being enslaved by the machines." At the mention of a number that high, Morpheus's head snapped around.

"How is that possible? The city is nowhere near that large! I don't think they could hide so many people," he said, obviously confused.

"No, I don't think so either. I think you're closer to thirty million. There are six what you would call 'growing fields' on the planet and I think there used to be six Matrixes and six cities. It looks like the other five were destroyed, though." Morpheus was clearly becoming dismayed. Colonel Mitchell gave Morpheus some space to think and walked over to the two men sparring on the mat. He talked to them for a few moments while Morpheus tried to comprehend everything. After about five minutes, Commodore Missen came into he gym and approached Morpheus.

"When you are ready, you and Colonel Mitchell and I will be beaming down to Zion."

"Thank you for this," he said, motioning to the view of the fleet in the window. "And thank you for your help. My people will never be able to repay you."

"Don't thank us yet; there's still a lot of work to do," Cam said as he rejoined the two of them.

"Are we ready?" Missen asked. Cam and Morpheus both nodded and he called to the transportation specialist. All three disappeared in a beam of light.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Zion: Council Meeting Chamber

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is Major Young; we hear you, Commodore. We're ready here when you are." Major Young and the assembled Council were treated to a sight not often witnessed by non-Tauri, but these Thirteeners – as some had started to call them – were a bit of an exception. The Council was a little shocked to see three people appear out of thin air, though, so they had to explain a little about their transportation technology. Once that was done, Colonel Mitchell told how he and Morpheus had come to be there and mentioned the ships in orbit.

"Tell us again why you can't simply destroy all of the machines from orbit?" Commander Locke asked for the third time as he sat at the Questioner's table in front of the Council with all his commanders to his back in the amphitheater.

"Simple, Commander. We want to save as many of those two hundred million people as we can, and right now we simply don't have the resources in place to medically care for or feed and clothe two hundred million people. The Colonies could probably host them if we could get them to the Colonies, but I don't believe any of us have the capacity to help all of those people at once," Commander Adama explained, again, from the seat next to Locke at the Questioner's table. He had been planetside for the past couple of days, having worked his way to Zion through the tunnels in a Raptor. It had been quite a journey, which was why he was a bit annoyed at the Tauri for failing to mention they had transport technology that could have gotten him there in seconds.

"You must understand; our primary concern is the survival of Zion. If that means the destruction of the fields and the people there, we don't like it, but some of us must survive," the head of the Council said, causing all the Council to nod in agreement.

"I have been authorized to offer your people a means of evacuation for all of the civilian population within this city. I know that fight that is about to come will not be pleasant, and if we can avoid civilian casualties that would be a huge positive," Colonel Mitchell suggested, knowing that some explanation would have to come after their next question.

"There are over two hundred thousand civilians in this city. You can do this even with the ships I have seen in space how?" Morpheus asked, not understanding what Cam was saying. Cam stepped forward, placed a small device on the floor in front of the Council tables, and motioned for one of his techies, who came forward and handed him a laptop with a data cable. Within a minute or two, the device sprang to life and everyone was immediately intrigued by the image of a Stargate being projected into the air.

"This is a Stargate. The race of people that you…" he pointed at the Colonials "…know of as the Lords of Kobol were actually called the Alterrans. They existed for millions of years, and one of the things they left behind was a network of these devices." Another image of the Pegasus Galaxy with small dots representing all the known Gates appeared. "They are essentially gateways that can connect to any other Stargate, and it enable instantaneous travel between the two connected Gates." He paused to let it sink in. Then he looked directly at the Council members. "The device that you have in your temple is one, and we can use it to move all of your civilians off-world in forty-eight to seventy-two hours, if you agree to it. Initially, we can house all of your people on our main Pegasus base, New Lantea. Once this fight is over, we can work out something more permanent." As he finished, it was clear that the Council was a bit overwhelmed, and even Commander Adama clearly had some questions.

"Why didn't we already know about these? And I will need to consult higher command about this. I believe they will request some of these gates."

"Both General O'Neill and Dr. Weir are briefing your authorities as we speak. We have already anticipated that request and have several Gates aboard the _Odyssey_ in the Cyrannus System." At this, he turned around and addressed the Council again. "In addition to what Colonel Mitchell has already said, we have a back up option as well if this city is overrun." The hologram changed from the image of Pegasus to an image of Atlantis, it was a comprehensive view of the city floating in space the entire city from bottom to topmost spire could be seen. "This is one of the cities the Alterrans left behind. This one is called Atlantis, and it can hold well over a hundred thousand people. We've found several more like Atlantis, and one of them is here on this planet. We're in the process of raising it out of the western ocean. If we can get it working, it will be yours to use it as you see fit. What I would suggest, though, is that we use it as a Beta Site for your military to evacuate to if Zion falls." Then the hologram disappeared and the techie who had helped to prepare the presentation came back to remove the equipment.

"In addition to what he Tauri have offered, we have verified you are truly the Thirteenth Colony of Kobol. Thus, we would like to offer all the help the Colonies could possibly offer to our long lost brothers." Commander Adama waited to see what the Council would say.

"There is so much to think about here, we do not know where to begin. For now, we will vote on the motion to move all civilians out of Zion to the temporary site," the Lead Counsel said as she stood and surveyed all the other twelve assembled Counselors. The vote was quick; she called each name and everyone gave the affirmative.

"We can begin the evacuation as soon as your people are ready," Colonel Mitchell said, happy at least one thing had been decided.

"We will reconvene once we are through this Stargate," the Counselor concluded. All the Counselors left to their own districts to get their people to the temple in preparation for evacuation. The head of the Council made her way over to Commander Locke.

"Commander, you and Morpheus are now in charge of the city. We are leaving with the civilians; the two of you must do all you can to free our people." Both men acknowledged the Lead Counsel and they parted ways.

-The Docks: Two Hours Later-

"Commander Locke, these shields can save the lives of all the people up here in the Docks," Commander Adama said indignantly as he pleaded with the commander to add the devices to his defense grid. It almost seemed as though he expected to lose the Docks, because he would only agree to use the shields to defend the temple.

"You already know my thoughts on this subject."

"But, if we have to fall back to the temple, the ships in orbit can beam us out. We won't need them, then," Colonel Mitchell reminded the commander. He was not used to having to plead with anyone. "Also, Commander, Morpheus and I need to go, but we will be circumventing much of the surface force to put a nuke in the tunnels above you, so there will be significantly fewer sentinels coming at you. Once we verify how many of the machines are needed to maintain the fields while we evacuate, we'll be hitting the other areas very hard. So there is little reason for a last resort scenario."

"Oh, fine. If you're that sure, then I guess I can't argue. Don't be wrong though," Locke warned, looking Mitchell directly in the eyes. "If we do have to fall back, I'll put you in front and you can take their bullets." Mitchell grumbled as he and Morpheus disappeared in columns of light on their way back to the _Nebuchadnezzar_ and Morpheus's Matrix team.

"The civilians have started evacuating through the Stargate. Commander Adama, would you like to go see the Stargate? We're not really needed here right now," Major Young said. He had joined the group several minutes ago and thought it best to give everyone a break from each other after their argument.

"That sounds good," Adama said as he turned around and walked away from Locke, who was probably glad for a little quiet. For Adama, the idea of having everything depend on him was overwhelming. Like everyone else, though, he was glad the civilians would not be here for the fight.

"That is truly amazing," Adama said as they watched people disappearing through the strange blue glowing puddle that fit neatly inside the ring he had seen only once before.

"Wait a minute. The Gate has been open for thirty-eight minutes and will be closing any second," Young said, and the Rangers stopped the flow of people for a moment while the Gate snapped shut and the puddle disappeared.

"What happened?" Adama asked.

"The physics of wormholes only allows for thirty-eight minutes of open wormhole. Except for rare circumstances, that means you can open the Gate again in a moment," he finished as the ring began to turn again. Within a minute the familiar blue cloud shot out from the Gate and bounced back into a stable wormhole. The Rangers managing the Gate let the flow of people start again and Major Young could easily hear the radio of one of the Rangers crackle with the go ahead New Lantea.

"If you would like, after this next round we can go through the Gate so you can meet some of our people on the other side. We need to bring some more supplies through anyway, so we won't be delaying the evacuation," Major Young said.

"That could be interesting. Why not? How big is that Gate?" Adama asked. An idea had just occurred to him.

"If you are wondering if one of your Raptors or Vipers could fit through the Gate, the answer is Viper, yes, and Raptor, no. Although, I bet with a little modification the Raptor could be made to fit as well." Adama was not terribly surprised the Tauri had already thought of that. They were very resourceful.

"Your people seem to have thought of most everything."

"That's funny. It's my experience that we rarely think through the consequences of anything," Major Young said with a chuckle. He laughed, but he did appreciate the compliment. He liked Commander Adama, and he thought he could like the Colonials too, although only time would tell. He knew they badly needed good allies in Pegasus, whether they liked them or not. It seemed General O'Neill was willing to have allies at such cost that even though the Tauri might not end up in control of Pegasus, at least the Wraith would be gone. It was quite a gamble.

XXXXXXXXXXX

_Nebuchadnezzar_: Unknown Location within Tunnel System

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Glad you're back, Sir. We were getting worried." Link welcomed Morpheus and Cam back as they reappeared on the main deck of the _Nebuchadnezzar_.

"Glad to be back. How are things here?" Morpheus said with a smile for his operator. All the other people on the ship were currently in the Matrix, so it was a fairly quiet place, which was nice. Link briefed the two of them quickly on what had taken place over the last few hours.

"Let's pull Trinity out and switch so you can get some rack time and maintain the watch. The Colonel and I need to get back in. We need to meet again and set up a plan. If we are going to rescue Colonel Sheppard and his people, we need to move quickly," Morpheus said as he and Cam sat down in their chairs and put their heads back while the Colonial tech who had been sitting quietly made ready to hook them into the Matrix.

"Glad to see you back," Daniel said as Cam and Morpheus came around the corner from whichever entry site they had used. "How are things going out there?"

"Better than expected. McKay penetrated the cloud and ionized layers of the atmosphere, and it turns out the have a city ship sitting in one of their oceans."

"Wow. It's like Christmastime or something," Daniel said, trying to make a joke at their good fortune. No one laughed.

"Up until recently, we only knew of two city ships still in existence. But since Daniel discovered Kobol, we can now push that count up to fifteen," Cam told Morpheus, who stared blankly. "Never mind," he said, and sat down to talk with the whole group about what they needed to do next. "So, Daniel, where is the Architect? And what is the intel we supposedly have on Sheppard's location?" Cam asked.

"It turns out when they were inserted into the Matrix, the machines took some of their memories and made them actors. They are the primary cast for a TV show. You won't believe me, but it's _Wormhole Extreme_," Daniel said, trying to straight face. Cam, however, began laughing so loud that the people in the closest seats to them turned around.

"That has got to be the funniest thing I have heard in a long time," he said after several minutes of laughter, which even made Morpheus laugh a little, though he still did not understand the humor. "On our home world, someone once created a television program to hide the existence of our Stargate program. That show was called _Wormhole Extreme, _and it was quite possibly the worst show ever made. It's a running joke in the program we work in and it is beyond ironic that that is what they've been tricked into believing." Morpheus nodded to signal he understood, but really, how could he?

"The set is crawling with agents and security, though so this mission could be difficult. Also, the Architect said that they might perceive us as enemies and attack us."

"Can you do your little shrink them down thing again, then? And you never answered my question about the Architect," Cam said, sensing some trickery on Daniel's part.

"Yes, we can probably do some shrinking but…I know you won't like this, but I let the Architect go."

"What!?" Cam was furious. And Daniel started talking very fast to get Cam to calm down before he did something stupid.

"There's a faction within the Matrix that wants peace. I think he can get them to help us let the people out of machine slavery slowly."

"Explain quickly."

"If he and the Oracle can rally enough support, they can create a 'holding' Matrix that we can use to keep the people in a sort of stasis long enough for us to release them over time. Then we can destroy the machines. Nuke Machine City."

"What do they get out of it?" Morpheus asked, clearly unhappy as well.

"We let them live on this planet, marooned." Both Morpheus and Cam settled a little.

"I'm still pissed you let him go, though."

"Where were Trinity and Neo on this?" Morpheus asked, already knowing the answer.

"It was their idea, really. I added a little, but ultimately I think they realized there has to be some sort of peace," he finished, ready to move onto the next topic now.

"Where are the rest of the Red Pills?" Morpheus asked.

"I'm supposed to bring them to you once we finished our discussion. When we get there, we'll make the final plans for the extraction of Sheppard's team."

"That sounds great. Lead the way."

Big things were in store, and Daniel and Cam were ready for them; somehow, though, this seemed very much like business as usual. For Morpheus and Neo on the other hand, this was in many ways an earth-shattering time, because so much of what they had believed was now proving to be rather wrong. Who could blame them, really; being enslaved, and then freed after hundreds of years is a great thing, but still disruptive of one's views of the world and one's place in it.


	8. Chptr 8: resistence is futile, seriouly?

**Resistance is futile, seriously?**

"Launch the attack package," Colonel Tigh commanded as he set the current plan in motion. With the machines tunneling furiously to get at the Thirteeners in Zion, they had to do something to staunch the flow of Sentinels that would make it to the city. Boomer and Mojo both were launching right now from the side of the _Galactica_ on their way down to the planet.

"Ready to go." Boomer saluted the launch officer sitting fifteen or so feet from her. This was still a surprise for her, having spent the last several days inside the Matrix with what they were starting to call their "Colonial Gate" team. One thing Boomer knew was if ever they started a Colonial Stargate Command, she definitely wanted to be a part of it. All those thoughts rushed quickly away from her when she and Mojo received their orders to deliver the payloads. Pushing down on her throttle and waiting for the catapult to shove her off of the ship, she thought again about the situation that she had been in with the system agent and what he had said about being a fellow machine. That still did not sit well with her. All of those thoughts cleared away as the catapult engaged and she was pushed back into her seat as her Viper raced down the launch tube and the _Galactica_ spat her out into space. She had missed the look of stars and the jolt of light that being a Viper and Raptor pilot always gave her. She had always enjoyed flying Vipers, but her real love was the Raptor. Sure, it was a big floating trashcan but it was far more versatile and could do so much more.

"Lets form up; we need to get through that cloud cover quickly – it's heavily ionized and the quicker we get through it the less damage it can do to our systems," she said to Mojo as she cleared her mind again. They both quickly put their planes in formation and made for the grey swirling planet below them. Off to her right she could clearly see the _Enterprise_ coming about so that they could perform their part of the mission. She and Mojo both watched with interest as the _Enterprise_ now pointed her nose at the planet and the large mass cannon under her began to turn and then glow as it readied to fire. During their briefing, they had been told that the Tauri part of the mission would be a directed planetary bombardment to destroy the primary staging area for the Sentinel invasion. She had not been in the air for the first battle with the Cylons, so had not seen the _Enterprise_ in action. She even felt a little fear as the cannon below the _Enterprise_ began to glow brighter and brighter, almost as if a light came on inside the barrel and was shot out at barely sub-light speed towards the planet below. It seemed to separate the clouds that blanketed the planet for a moment, giving her a chance to clearly see some type of structure beneath the clouds.

"That's our cue. Let's get moving. The Sentinels should be a little bit off balance now."

"Roger that. I would not want to be in the way of that shot," Mojo remarked as he remembered the view from his cockpit when the _Enterprise_ tore two Basestars in half with one of those rounds. They both entered the atmosphere as they watched. The clouds that had covered the spot where the slug had passed glowed very brightly for a few seconds as the round struck home. The ride was rough for a bit as the two ships broke through the atmosphere and exited the cloud cover. Fortunately for them, they were flying in sturdy ships because the ionized clouds were wreaking havoc on their systems. For a normal ship, the clouds would have destroyed their systems almost immediately.

"Systems back to normal. Let's reacquire our target," Boomer commanded the team as they reoriented their Vipers and shot down in the direction of the tunnel system that would deliver them to their target. The machines had been digging for a while before the Tauri had discovered the Thirteeners, so they had already tunneled three of the four kilometers needed to reach the city. It was Boomer's job to see that as few of the Sentinels as possible made it the last kilometer. They were within a hundred kilometers of the entrance now and at ballistic speeds that would cover the distance quickly. So far, they had not seen any Sentinels guarding the entrances to the tunnels, a good sign. It was not easy to see anything on the surface with as much devastation and degradation as there was. It was obvious at this distance how complete the destruction to the planet had been. From space, nothing was visible but the clouds, and the devastation they now saw made them both sad and angry. Once inside the tunnels, the planet felt very different. It felt dormant, but seemed to be building up slowly as though it were ready to spew forth some great sickness from itself. The maps that had been programmed into the ships' computers she had first thought crude, but she realized now they were actually quite accurate. They were within thirty kilometers of their target and she gave the order to arm their missiles. The nuclear missiles they carried were their own, but the Tauri had augmented them somehow (the techie had said something about coils and EMP enhancements), but she didn't understand it. All they cared about was, in just a minute, a lot of machines were going to go 'boom.'

"Thirty seconds to release. When we release we need to punch our afterburners and get out quickly or these tunnels will funnel the blast right to us."

"Aye, Sir," Mojo answered in recognition.

"Release on three, now, now ... Now!" At that, they both launched their ten-megaton nuclear warheads, which sped the last fifteen kilometers to their designated targets. The missiles would hug the terrain for the last few kilometers and do their best to remain undetected until they gave their big announcement to the world. Boomer and Mojo, however, were on their way to Zion.

It was deemed that once they were planetside, they would not meet the fuel requirements to get back to the _Galactica,_ so they elected that the two Vipers be brought to Zion. They would then be sent through the Stargate to New Lantea and back to test the viability of their being used for Gate travel. Commander Adama was quite the multi-tasker.

"Zion Control, this is Boomer and Mojo. Request clearance for entrance and docking," Boomer finally said, after two hours of tunnels and evading Sentinels had led them to within a few kilometers of the entrance to Zion.

"You are cleared for entry through Gate 3 and you can dock in Bay 5. Good work on the raid, Friends. It looks like they're still tunneling but the word is their numbers have been cut in half. Thank you," the voice from Zion Control said. With that, Gate 3 began to slide open and the two ships slipped silently into the bustling dock. There were no Matrix ships in right now, but with all the defenses being readied, there were people everywhere.

"Look at those things – what are they?" Mojo pointed as they glided towards their docking area and passed over the hulking mass of one of the APUs. It looked like Captain Mufuni was running this particular APU, which had both of its Gatling cannons out and ready to fire on anything coming through the entrance.

"Those are heavy weapons carriers. They're called APUs, and the captain down there will give you a tour if you ask nicely. When I asked, he even let me sit in one," Boomer said with a smile, remembering her meeting with the man in charge of the APU Corps. When they landed, they both made their way to Commander Adama to get their next mission. It would turn out to be a while before they saw him again, though.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kobol

XXXXXXXXXX

"General, we have the president of the Colonies aboard and he is being briefed on the Thirteenth Colony right now."

"Good. How much have you briefed him on what we found on Kobol?"

"We were going to let you do that, Sir, when you spoke with him," the XO of the _Odyssey_ said as he sat in the command chair aboard his ship. Currently Colonel Chekov and Dr. Weir were with the president, so that left him in charge for the time being.

"Is the Gate ready? I know you had a few on board to give to the Colonials."

"Yes, Sir. They're planning to come through the Gate within the hour to meet with you. We also planned on letting you tell them about the gift of the Gates for their home worlds," the XO said, then stopped abruptly, realizing that someone new had stepped into the frame behind General O'Neillll.

"Cat is out of the bag on that one, General," Admiral Cain said as she stepped up onto the back of the pedestal that the general was sitting in underground on Kobol.

"Yeah, I guess I missed that one. If you could let me tell the president, though that would be nice."

"I think I can do that. This place is incredible, though," the admiral said when suddenly several alarms started to go off.

"What is it, Sir?" The XO asked, hearing the alarms and noticing the very serious look appear on the General's face.

"Has the president stepped through the Gate yet?"

"Yes, Sir. He should be there any second."

"We'll alert him here. You need to alert the Colonies: the Cylons are coming. They have started the invasion. We've had their codes broken for a few days now and it looks like they have finished their final phase for the pre-invasion. Everyone needs to be on alert."

"Understood, Sir. I will alert my superiors and we will move from there."

"I'll call you back within the next thirty minutes once I have spoken to President Adar," Jack finished speaking. He switched focus to the screen displays at the front of the room that were now zooming in on the Cyrannus Sector and the Cylon attack beginning to take shape.

"What can I do to help?" Admiral Cain asked, clearly uncomfortable with not being able to shoot at something.

"I need you to go and get the president. He will be going through pleasantries and such but I need him here right now and I can't just transport him." She hurried from the room to bring the president back.

"Dr. Rush," Jack said to get the doctor's attention. Rush was sitting in one of the forward chairs controlling the sensor network and separating targets from friendlies in the system. "I need you to finish before I can activate the defense network in that area. I need to activate it in five minutes. Make sure you don't miss any ships," Jack said as he mentally located the fleet of Auroras already on the way to the Colonies.

"Colonel Telford, how far out from the Colonies are you?" Jack asked as a hologram popped up in the air above him.

"Hello, Sir. We're two hours out, but we are only running at 70% power. Is something wrong?" Colonel Telford asked. He seemed genuinely surprised to be speaking to the general.

"Yes. I am sending you the coordinates to rendezvous with the _Odyssey_. The Colonies are being invaded by the Cylons. The attack is underway now and I need you there to help the _Odyssey_."

"Understood. Receiving coordinates. We will be there in five to ten minutes," Telford said and closed the connection. While Jack knew Telford could be a bit of a pain at times, he also knew they had essentially the same brain. As the screen closed, Jack could hear the commotion behind him as the president and his entourage came through the main entranceway from aboveground. At their arrival Jack got up from his chair and stepped quickly down from the pedestal to address the president. The last thing he wanted was to have the president misunderstand how serious this was.

"Hello, Mr. President," Jack greeted him respectfully as he approached the president, who was being surrounded by his security detail.

"This is General O'Neill of the Tauri," Cain explained as she entered the room behind the president's detail.

"Hello, General. It's good to meet you. Do you mind if I ask what exactly you are in charge of? If your military is anything like ours, sometimes the rank doesn't signify importance," he interjected, wanting to know how important Jack was and if he should be listened to or was just some functionary.

"No problem, Mr. President. I am Commander in Chief of all Tauri assets, personnel, and operations not directly involved with the protection of our home world, which puts me in charge of all operations within the Ida Galaxy, Pegasus Galaxy – which is your galaxy – and the Milky Way Galaxy, where my home world is located."

"Do you mean to tell me that the Tauri are not from our galaxy?" He asked, having a hard time believing these people were from that far away. Operate out of three galaxies? How could that be possible? He wondered to himself as he began to look around. "What is this place?" He asked, looking directly into Jack's eyes, trying to assess how much he could trust this person sitting in the seat of power his people should be occupying.

"This is the central command center for a galaxy-wide defense network. Right now, though, I must inform you that the Colonies are under attack. We have been observing the Cylons since we arrived here, but it seems they have just begun their full-scale invasion of the Colonies." Jack stopped as all of the Colonials began to panic a bit.

"Why would you allow us to come here knowing that?"

"We have the ability to destroy most of their fleet. If you will let me, I can help to defend the Colonies," Jack said as he invited the president to step up onto the pedestal while Jack sat down in the command chair and four of the screens along the wall combined to display a diagram of the invasion force and the neighboring star systems. "This is the strike force coming at the Cyrannus System. I have satellites in place to destroy more than seventy-five percent of the incoming force. The problem is, there are two areas the satellites cannot reach," Jack explained as two groups of Basestars began to glow and the president could see those two groups would be able to get through the net of protection.

"Can you get ships to these places and block the gaps in the defensive line?" Jack asked.

"Admiral Nagala, can our ships be in place in time?" The president asked the admiral who had been standing quietly in the back.

"We can definitely reach the first area in time with a significant force, but at this second point we could only put a Battlestar or two." Nagala began to mentally construct the flash orders he would need to produce as soon as he could get back.

"That's not a problem. What we haven't gotten to tell you yet is I have four more ships on the way into the Cyrannus System. They were supposed to be bringing Stargates for each of your worlds and one extra for military purposes as a token of our friendship, but we can hold that off for a bit. They can rendezvous with the _Odyssey_ and attack this second force. " He controlled the holograms with his mind to activate the defense satellites, which quickly sprang into action engaging the first grouping of Basestars. "Mr. President, hopefully we can continue our talks and the tour we had planned, but I'm sure you want to get back to your people. "

"I definitely do. Can you get us back to Caprica?" The president asked, hoping they were not now out of the fight.

"Definitely. I've already given orders for the _Odyssey_ to drop the military Gate in your presidential bunker. As we speak, it's being transported there and when you are ready we can connect the Kobol Gate to it and you can go through. Admiral Nagala, do you need to go somewhere different?" Jack looked at Nagala.

"I need to be on Picon, but if you can get me somewhere close I can make do," he said as he motioned for Admiral Cain to join him. "Admiral Cain, please accompany me. I'll need you to take charge of the first strike group. The Colonies need you on the front line. Commander Adama?" He called, looking for the commander, who had come through the Gate only a moment before they had from the Tauri home world here in Pegasus. "I'm giving you a field promotion to Admiral and placing you in charge of all the ships around Kobol and the Thirteenth Colony. Until such time as the promotion can be finalized, you will be in charge of this mission."

"The _Ajax_ will transport you all through her Stargate, I will talk to you soon, Mr. President." Jack signaled the _Ajax_ to transport the group away. He sent orders along to inform the _Ajax _about who would be going where. The president and his staff went directly to Caprica through their new Gate, and the admirals ended up aboard the _Odyssey_ and were treated to the sight of four Auroras dropping out of hyperspace right beside the _Odyssey_. Meanwhile, Jack and now Admiral Adama were left to do their jobs still in the control room on Kobol.

"Engaging satellites in offensive fire mode," Jack said aloud to make the command formal and set the satellites in their proper roles. As he did this, the satellites on the screens began to glow red, and then orange, and finally green as their beam weapons charged. Adama watched the video feed from one of the satellites as it engaged its main weapon and the massive beam annihilated three Basestars. The beam passed through two ships, causing them to erupt and blow up a third that was simply too close. The remaining twenty or so Baseships attempted to engage the satellite, only to discover that there were three more satellites already in range with strange white lights erupting from them and destroying everything in range.

"What are those lights coming from the satellites? The ones destroying those Raiders and Heavy Raiders?" Adama inquired.

"They're Alterran drone weapons. They are nasty little buggers, capable of getting through just about anything. They can even phase in and out of normal space to pass through shields and other impassable obstacles. We have a similar style of drone that we employ on our larger ships. Not as good, but close." Jack finished explaining and went back to destroying the Cylon fleet. This would not be a good day for the Cylons

XXXXXXXXXX

_Odyssey_: In Orbit around Caprica

XXXXXXXXXX

"Incoming wormhole!" The payload technician called out. The Gate sprung to life as the wormhole settled itself into the ring and a large group of people stumbled out from the other side, obviously not yet used to Gate travel.

"Hello, Mr. President," Dr. Weir said as she approached the man in the middle of the group. "I am sorry for the change in plans. Once the alert went out, they locked down the city below and they wanted a presidential access code before they would allow us to beam anything or anyone down."

"Thank you, Dr. Weir. Can you direct me to where I can give the code and you can send us back? Also, can you see to it that Admirals Nagala and Cain make it back to Picon?"

"Of course, Sir," she said as she motioned for the president to follow her back to the communications station at the back of the bay. Then the president input his code at the terminal. He and his team disappeared in a flash of light and found themselves deep in the presidential bunker, getting ready for the coming assault. Within moments the Gate they had just come through also disappeared and reappeared within that same presidential bunker.

"Are we ready to go?" Dr. Weir called out to the bridge and Colonel Chekov answered.

"The rest of our team just arrived."

"Set course for Picon, and beam us to the bridge," Weir said.

Cain smiled as Nagala reacted with surprise at being so suddenly on the bridge of the _Odyssey_. It still surprised even her that they actually had windows.

"What is that purple swirling outside?" Admiral Nagala asked. Chekov and Weir smiled and Weir gave the easy explanation.

"That is hyperspace. Your ships travel by essentially folding space and jumping from one point to another, but ours work by creating a door into the background of space and traveling within that area. Think of it like going backstage at a playhouse and coming out at a different point on the stage." As they finished listening to her explanation, they could clearly see the ship revert back to normal space. "It may not seem like it is that much faster, but we only traveled at thirty percent power. The speed that we travel at is proportional to the amount of power that we put into the drive."

"So the more power you have, the farther and faster you go?" Nagala asked as he looked back out the window at the other four ships in their small fleet.

"That's right. And those other ships are the four Auroras that are going to help us send the Cylons packing."

"It was good to see you, but I need to go. Can you put me in my office?" Admiral Nagala asked and Weir shook her head in agreement and he disappeared in another flash of light.

"We have located your flotilla of ships and we will drop you there momentarily. I have also sent you targeting information on the approaching Baseships.

"Thanks for the ride. We'll see you in a bit," Cain said as the five Tauri ships dropped back out into normal space a safe distance from the flotilla of Battlestars the admiral was to take command of. Within minutes, Cain was aboard her command ship and the Tauri force was again entering hyperspace on their way to plug the hole in the defensive shield.

"Dropping out of hyperspace in thirty seconds," the tech said to Weir, sitting behind Colonel Chekov.

"I want everyone with shields up as we exit. Power all weapons and I will call out targets," she said over the fleet wide communications controlled by the _Odyssey_. She had been briefed on the new Auroras. Apparently, they were of a newer variety than they had seen so far, because each of the new Auroras had a beam weapon built into the hull of the ship. They were unidirectional like the mass cannons on the Enterprise class, but they seemed to have the same type of systems that the satellite weapons used so they were all anxious to see what they could do.

"Shields up, weapons ready," Chekov called out while Weir was marking lanes and targets for each of the ships in their fleet. They came out of hyperspace behind a large moon a short distance from the Cylon fleet. The Cylons were restaging for their final few jumps into the Cyrannus System. They were sixty Baseships strong at this point and had obviously been hearing something about how the invasion had gone so far, because they were on high alert with Raiders scanning for the fleet attempting to get their ground invasion ships ready. They were surprised, though, when two Tauri ships appeared from around the backside of the gas giant they were orbiting. They had learned from their brothers that even just two ships would be formidable against any and all Cylons.

-Aboard _Thor's Revenge_-

"Bring the main weapon online. Wait on the drones, Major. I want them deployed after we make our initial strike," Colonel Garrett ordered as he focused on lining up his beam weapon with the first Baseship. The Cylons were quick to react to the two Tauri ships that had appeared from the far side of the planet. Raiders began to attack both the _Thor's Revenge_ and the _Mjolnir_. "Fire beam weapon," Colonel Garret ordered. _Thor's Revenge_ shone with the light of the beam weapon. The weapon's fire was different that he expected. The beam was not as tightly bound as the mass cannons he had been trained with. The beam that left the ship took a strange blue hue as it began to spread like the light from a flashlight. While it illuminated the underside of the Tauri ship, it struck the first Cylon ship and simply vaporized the inner sections that it touched. The beam itself seemed to cause the ship it passed through to explode somehow. Reaching the back of the first ship, the beam spread until it touched the outside edge of a second ship that had been desperately trying to get out of the line of fire. What made the new weapon even more curious and scary was that, just like with the first ship, the beam seemed to cause the second ship to explode, but this one was different because the explosion started on the outer edge of the top star shape. The result was the same, however, as the ship was in pieces within a few seconds. The pieces of the second ship shot towards two more ships that by this time were already disabled from the _Mjolnir_'s weapons.

"Major, release the drones." At those words, the fifty remaining ships in the Cylon fleet started to move very quickly as small blips of light danced around and through their fleet, destroying everything they touched.

-Cylon Lead Baseship: Caprican Invasion Arm-

"Where did those ships come from?" The Six asked the other Sixes around her as they attempted to fight off the two Tauri ships that had just appeared from the far side of the gas giant.

"They have not yet fired."

"I thought our plans were secret. We must move to our secondary invasion plan now," she said, rather agitated

"By your command," the other Six said, then she notified all the other ships they had to jump immediately.

"Launch all Raiders and have them crowd around these ships. Maybe they can slow them down long enough to allow most of the invasion force to get away."

"They are firing!" The room became silent as they all watched the feed from the closest ship. The first, and then the second ship fired its weapon and four Baseships disappeared in large explosions that damaged the ships around them.

"Four ships destroyed, two more critically damaged. We cannot stay here," she decided. They watched in surprise as the ships began firing little white things.

"Commander, they have the little missiles too. They are tearing apart our Raiders," she said as small balls of light began to expand out from the two ships that had attacked them and move very rapidly in, around, and through the Raider fleet attempting to slow them down. They had seen these things recently at the Tauri satellites that had become such a problem for them, but they still did not have a sample of them to research.

"Tell Basestar 26 to ram the nearest ship. They are the closest, they must make the sacrifice."

"By your command." As the order was issued, the closest Baseship began to move slowly towards one of the Tauri ships. Within moments, though, that ship and the four closest to it disappeared in an immense flash of light that appeared between them. It was clearly some sort of nuclear detonation.

"Three gigatons, Commander. There are three more ships that just appeared." The commander saw she was right as three more Tauri ships appeared from the explosion, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Ships are beginning to jump. Should we launch our nuclear missiles?"

"No, they would never reach their targets. Let all Baseships know, unless they are jumping out, they need to ram those ships," she said. She watched her invasion fleet that was sixty Baseships strong with several thousand Raiders and enough troops to hold all of Caprica simply disintegrate. "Some of us must make it through; have everyone make their jump to their invasion point and launch missiles." With that she turned off her radio. By now it had become apparent that their earlier plans were no longer any good. She smiled though, hoping she could watch at least some of these humans die. She began to move the controls of her ship that would lead her into its last movements through space.

-_Odyssey_-

"Drop the first missile," Chekov ordered. They were putting in place the first of the Mark IXs that would even the playing field a bit. Weir had set up the battle with _Mjolnir_ and _Thor's Revenge,_ making the initial strike in the open to herd the Cylons in one direction while she and the _Apollo_ and _Penegal_ would circle around the far side of the planet, cloaked, and would enter the battle from the opposite side. The _Odyssey_ set three Mark IXs to essentially box in all of the Baseships. Once they were all in the kill box, it would be easy work for the drone weapons and their new beam cannons. The first part had gone well as the _Mjolnir_ and _Thor's Revenge_ had pushed very hard and destroyed a lot of Cylon hardware, but something seemed out of place. After the first two explosions, when the drones started to do their work, Baseships began to disappear. Most of the Baseships seemed to be jumping to their final invasion point, but there were a few that jumped very close to her new Auroras.

"General, one of the Baseships just jumped to within a hundred feet of the _Mjolnir_. She is stuck inside its star structure."

"Emergency beam out. Everyone get that crew before…." She stopped mid-sentence as the _Mjolnir_ struck both the top and bottom starpoints of the offending Baseship while she was trying to free herself from its grip. _Mjolnir's_ death wasn't a huge explosion. It was rather quick as her shields visibly failed and the missile tubes from inside the Baseship riddled the _Mjolnir_ with missiles that caused the pretty new ship to all but disintegrate. The Baseship itself wasn't far behind, though, as the drones from the _Mjolnir_ made quick work of the Baseship even as their parent ship ceased to exist.

"Did we get anyone out?" Weir asked quietly as Chekov continued shouting orders to his crew as he fought to do his best to finish off the Cylons in the system.

"Just a few, Ma'am. It looks like just the bridge crew was able to get out," the tech from behind her informed her. Without responding, she issued new orders to the fleet of four.

"Launch all our remaining nuclear weapons. We need to finish this right now," Weir ordered as the last four Mark VIIIs and IXs left their launch tubes and quickly made there way into the last clumps of Baseships, Shepparded by drones into their places. More than twenty Baseships went up in flames and several more were destroyed from the debris.

"I need a report right away. How may got away?" Weir demanded angrily as the realization that they had just lost friends who would not be coming back hit her.

"It looks like fifteen Baseships have made it through to their destination. They are on the outskirts of the Cyrannus System," Colonel Chekov said to his crew, who made the ship ready for a quick exit.

"Colonel, we need to get word to the Colonials that some of the ships got through."

"Yes, Ma'am. I am transmitting their numbers and coordinates now. We should be done with mop-up in three minutes," Chekov said as he helped his commander plan their next steps.

"We need to get those Baseships quickly. We can let the _Thor's Revenge_ finish the mop-up and survey the wreckage for any survivors," she said, typing the command into the console on her chair. "Lets get going. Have the _Apollo_ and the _Penegal_ take position on either side of us and let's get after these last Baseships." The three ships broke away form the battle and moved off in formation into space in search of their prey.

-_Hades_: Colonial Command Battlestar of Admiral Cain's Battle Group-

"We see you, _Odyssey_; ready when you are…." The XO let out a bit of a yelp in surprise as the Admiral suddenly appeared in front of him. "Crap!" He cried as he jumped back a bit. Cain simply smiled at this.

"It's alright, Colonel I am not used to it either." She paused as she realized the CIC was full of people.

"Crew, we're going into battle. I need all of you at your best and so do all of the Colonies," she said as she looked around at the somewhat startled group of people who had been wondering what they were doing here and what might be happening. "Would you like to address the fleet, Admiral? The fleet was told to be battle ready so everyone is ready and waiting for orders." He was glad she was back. He liked her all-business attitude and, being that this had always been her ship and crew, they had all missed her presence even though they had no idea where she had been or what connection she had to these new Tauri.

"We only have a few minutes. Let's pull up a conference with the other ships' commanders first," she said as she walked over to the plot board in the center of the room. "Everyone, I will send out the coordinates in a second, but we need to be ready to make a combat jump in ten minutes. What we are looking at is the complete mobilization of all Cylon forces." She paused to let that sink in. "Our assigned place in the Colonial defense is here," she said, pointing at a position on the plot board they could all see on their video screens. "There are forty-five to sixty Baseships in this sector and, thanks to the Tauri, we know they are tasked with taking Tauron and all of its attendant settlements. We cannot let them get by us." She paused again for effect. "We will jump into a C-style formation around the Cylons. When we jump, we need to have all nuclear ordinances loaded and all possible Vipers in the tubes and ready. I want to light them up the minute we appear. If we hit them hard enough, we should be able to make this a quick operation. Everyone will be positioned based on where you are in formation now. Plot your individual positions from that. Any questions?" She asked, and waited. "Good. I will call the jump from two minutes out. Get your people ready," she finished as she closed the channel and looked at her crew, who were listening intently. "Get to work people. I've been busy, not dead," she shouted, causing the crew to jump out of their stupor and move with purpose. They would be ready in time.

"Five minutes to jump, Admiral," the Colonel informed her as he handed the Admiral her mic.

"Marines and Sailors, the Cylons think they can destroy us. They have prepared an invasion large enough to wipe all of us away forever. But what they did not expect was for us to have allies. Right now, our new friends the Tauri are gathering a force the same size as the one we are about to gather. They are putting their lives on the line to protect our people. We cannot do any less. We will defeat this threat, but only if we fight with all that is within us. We launch in two minutes, and everyone must do their part. All of our lives count on that." With her final word she shut off the live feed to the fleet and started the jump clock.

"Incoming transmission," the colonel said. "The Tauri have engaged the Cylons. Cylons taking heavy losses. One Tauri ship destroyed."

"Do we know which one?" Cain asked, hoping it was not the _Odyssey_.

"_Mjolnir,_ Admiral," the colonel said with some sadness. He was amazed these people would give their lives for people they had never seen and did not know.

"Thirty seconds to jump. Call the countdown, Colonel," Cain commanded as she watched the jump clock count down to ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one…

At zero, all of the ships in the Colonial fleet disappeared in flashes of light as they made their short jump into their C formation around a very unsuspecting Cylon fleet. The Cylons were so surprised, one of the heavy Raiders that had been ferrying a few model Sevens between ships found itself sitting inside the landing bay of a Battlestar. Unfortunately for the Heavy Raider, it didn't fit very well and was immediately stuck in the bay, a problem that cost it its life.

"Launch all missile tubes, all ships." With that command, the battle began in earnest as all sixty Battlestars and one hundred twenty Gunstars launched more than seven hundred nuclear missiles into the formation of Basestars now within the pincer of Colonial ships. The Cylons were clearly not ready and they only put up minimal fire at the large amount of missile heading toward them. As the missiles began to explode, it became evident the Cylons would not last long. More than a dozen Basestars were destroyed immediately with another twenty in critical condition.

"Inform all missile batteries to load second round of nukes and fire at will. After the second round, ship-to-ship non-nuclear only," Cain ordered as she watched the board and the remaining twenty-five Basestars begin to recover from the initial shock of the assault. For many though, it was too late and the second round of missiles began to explode, decimating their ranks again. "Launch all Vipers. They need to take out all those Raiders." Cain was still surprised at how quickly Cylons could launch fighters. They had only been in the fight for about five or ten minutes and already there were more than a thousand Raiders in space.

"Admiral, the _Hades_ is taking heavy damage and needs to retreat," the colonel called out.

"Have them pull behind us. Let all ships' commanders know if they sustain heavy damage they can back away. We have depleted the Cylons enough that no man has to sacrifice himself today." In total, only fifteen Battlestars took enough damage to need to bow out, but after an hour they only had mop-up operations and all of the Cylon Baseships had been destroyed. Not a single Baseship had been able to escape the onslaught, and because of that there would be very little information getting back to the Cylons.

"Admiral, we have another transmission. It appears the Tauri had fifteen Basestars get by them. They are on the outskirts of the Cyrannus System," the colonel spoke up.

"Do we have a force in place to stop them?" She asked as she went over to the plotting table and began to press buttons to highlight that area of space. Being close to their home system, their information gathering abilities were much greater. The plotting tables were able to link into their own system of satellites that mapped almost all of Colonial space. It allowed them to make real-time decisions that made sense and addressed things in ways they could not before.

"We have a small force of ten Battlestars and their Gunstars. They can fight a holding action only," the colonel figured.

"We can send some of our force. Commander Gehrig, take command of the mop-up. Keep the damaged ships and these fifteen Battlestars. The rest of you we will jump to this position," she said, pointing to the Cylon position while speaking to all of the ships' commanders and parting the fleet for the next battle. "All of the rest of you, ready for jump in ten minutes. Get as many of your ships in as you can, but don't wait. If a Viper can't get back, they can hitch a ride with one of the Battlestars still here. We jump in nine minutes and forty-five seconds." She paused. "Let's go people!" She shouted and closed the line.

-_Odyssey_: Shadowing the Cylon Remnant-

"We have been shadowing them for forty-five minutes. What do you want to do now?" Chekov asked, while Weir seemed to be deeply contemplating something.

"Do we have any nuclear devices left?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Drones? What are our storage levels?"

"Twenty percent Ma'am," Chekov answered again.

"Have they powered up their jump drives?" Weir asked. She seemed to be trying to solve a puzzle that didn't appear to want to be solved.

"New ships are appearing now. Wow," the comm. officer remarked as they all watched more that thirty Battlestars and their Gunstars appear and begin to rain down missile fire on the Cylons. The Cylons had moved into a kind of Shepparding formation around a central ship as soon as they had arrived in the system. Dr. Weir had been trying to figure out why they had done this and had not attacked right away.

"Uncloak the ships and tell the Colonials to avoid the ship in the center," she told the comm. officer. "I want to take that ship in the middle. Have the _Apollo_ and _Penegal_ take flanking positions around us; we are going into the center of that formation and we will disable and capture that central ship. I think it may be important."

"What do you think it could be?" Chekov was genuinely curious. He had known Dr. Weir for a while and had always known her to be the type of person that often sees things others missed.

"I think it might be one of those resurrection ships the Cylon spies told us about."

The Tauri ships de-cloaked and shot forward quickly, entering into the Cylon formation. It was an easy task as the drones from the Auroras made quick work of anything that got close to the three Tauri ships. Even the small yield nukes of the Colonials did little to the Tauri ships, so it was interesting to watch the Cylon force disintegrate around them as they couldn't hope to fight two separate forces tearing them apart.

"Major, fire the beam cannons at the flank of that ship. Make sure you only damage their jump drive and power systems." Fortunately the Major's aim was true and the jump drive and power system received a quick death. "Have the _Apollo_ tractor the ship, and then I want to make a quick trip to New Lantea. This could be vital." At that, that colonel nodded his understanding and set a course for the three ships.

"Ma'am, that ship has no offensive weapons aboard it. I would recommend we extend our shields around it to ease it through hyperspace," Chekov added.

"That's fine," Weir said in response from her fleet command chair behind Colonel Chekov. At that moment the view screen came to life with the face of Admiral Cain. She looked a little unhappy.

-_Hades_: on the Outskirts of the Cyrannus System-

"Launch missiles and all Vipers," Admiral Cain called out as they completed their jump and made their attack on the last of the Cylons in the system. Cain was surprised to find that there was a different kind of Cylon ship in the middle of their formation. The Cylons were in a basic bubble formation, so her ships were able to quickly encircle the Cylons and move all of their ships into a broadside position right away. These Cylon ships would not last very long and it confused Cain that while the Cylons were firing every weapon, they had made any attempt to escape. Curious, she thought, although not for long because she was more than happy to kill them all where they stood.

"Admiral, three ships have just appeared on the edge of the formation," the colonel told her.

"Who are they?" She asked, watching the ships appear on the board in deep purple, indicating they were unknowns. They quickly changed to green though as their IFF showed them to be three Tauri ships. "What are they doing?" Cain asked her XO as she watched the three ships move into the Cylon formation.

"_Hades_, this is Grounder Actual. The three Tauri ships are entering our kill box – what are your orders?"

Cain thought about this for a second.

"Stay out of their way. Your rounds will have no effect on them."

"Understood. They appear to be clearing a path with some strange white lights. They look like they should be missiles, but they move like no missile I've ever seen," the _Hades_ senior pilot added.

"Do not go near those lights. I believe they are drone weapons." She paused, looking at her XO. "Get me the _Odyssey_ on the line." The XO could see that the admiral was getting agitated at the Tauri in the middle of her field of fire.

"Dr. Weir, what are you doing?" She demanded, looking at the video screen. "You are in the middle of our path of fire. If we back down, one of these ships could reach a Colony and drop a nuclear weapon. You must get out now, or risk being fired on."

"Keep up you fire. Your rounds won't penetrate our shields. I think that ship in the middle of their formation is what they call a 'resurrection ship.' If it is what I think it is, we must have it. None of their jump dives are online, so you don't have to worry about them running away," Weir said as she continued to shout orders to her crew, whom Cain could see onscreen.

"Fine, but it's on your own head. And how can you tell that they aren't about to jump?" Cain was getting a little frustrated at their reactions.

"Our sensors go far beyond your DRADIS. We're going to take that ship and disappear for a bit. _Thor's Revenge_ should be along in a while. Colonel Garret will help you if you need it." Without further ado, she closed the line and the front view cameras came back onscreen. Cain watched for a moment as the shields of the three Tauri vessels glowed golden with shields.

"_Hades,_ this is Grounder_._ It looks like the _Odyssey_ has disabled the central Cylon ship with a beam weapon of some kind."

"Grounder_,_ this is _Hades_ Actual are they towing the ship yet?" She asked.

"Yes, it looks like they've covered the Cylon ship with their shield now, because now the Cylon ship is glowing too. What is the meaning of this?" Grounder asked as what he saw did not look promising.

"Take no action. They are taking that ship captive for study. They're not trying to save the Cylons."

"Colonel, have those Battlestars open a hole for the Tauri to move through," she said, pointing at a spot in their formation where the Tauri could come through and watching as the four ships disappeared in one of their weird swirling holes in space. The Cylons would not last much longer, so she went back to working toward their complete destruction.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matrix: Same Time

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Starbuck, we are two minutes until go," Daniel said over the voice comm. system. They had been prepping for this situation for a few hours now, and Starbuck and Apollo had been the forward team making sure their targets stayed in place. Starbuck still didn't understand why the Tauri thought this whole thing was so funny. That was why they had to be point though, because they were not sure they could maintain cover. Daniel had been surprised at the number of agents patrolling the area around the studio lot. They had expected a lot of security because of the nature of studios, but the agents were here on top of that. It seemed odd they hadn't just parked tanks at the entrances and exits.

"Starbuck, are we ready?" Colonel Mitchell's voice came over their radios. She clicked her radio twice for the affirmative.

"Are the targets still in place?" Again she clicked twice.

"Moving in sixty seconds." Two clicks, and then she readied her rifle. The studio lot in front of her was roughly a rectangular city block. Most of the buildings on it were basic metal warehouses with a few trailers dotting the blacktop and one entrance onto the main street. Like all studios, there were a lot of equipment trucks and other movie making equipment around. From Starbuck's lookout across the park and a few floors up in the air, she could clearly see the sentry agents patrolling the perimeter of the studio, both inside and out. She could also see the security checkpoints at the Gate and halfway through the lot. All told, they had more than twenty Red Pills on this operation, and they would all be busy in the next few seconds. Counting down in her head, Starbuck set herself into her firing position lying down on the table she had set up in front of the window overlooking the park. It was a clear day and people were milling around in the park. At ten seconds, Starbuck cleared her sights and pushed the safety off of her rifle. From this distance, wind wouldn't be much of an issue, so she made her final adjustments just as all of the other Red Pills were getting ready. At five seconds she had her target in her sights and with a final breath she was ready. All eight agents on the outside perimeter fell at the same time. With the first shots fired, all Red Pills would be on alert. Fortunately, the fence that surrounded the studio was corrugated steel rather than a more permanent brick wall. As all eight snipers switched on the thermal sights they had prepared, they would be able to penetrate the outer wall easily. Starbuck knew she only had fifteen seconds from the first round firing to the second. They had to be precise, or one of the agents could sound the alarm and alert the entire Matrix and their operation would be nearly impossible. At eight seconds, Starbuck had found her second target and had her second round chambered by twelve. At fifteen seconds, all eight of the inner perimeter agents were down as well. With the sixteen agents down, the other twelve Red Pills broke into two six-person teams and moved through the front entrance and a rear entrance they hastily prepared with a small bridging charge.

Apollo and Starbuck, who were in apartments next to each other, had stayed in place while the other six snipers were bagging up their equipment. They would move into the park across from the main entrance to wait as the reserve force if needed. Apollo and Starbuck both would act as watch for the front entrance.

They both dropped agents who had come outside during the commotion the front fire team created, removing the security guards from the front Gate area. Most of the security guards wouldn't respond to weapons fire right away because of the kind of studio lot they were on. The sound of weapons fire was not uncommon, and especially the MP5s and P-90s the team was using were very similar to the ones that the _Wormhole X-treme!_ people would use. It almost became an advantage for them because all of the security guards neutralized individually. The agents would be the problem. From the outset, Starbuck had counted around twenty agents so neutralizing the sixteen on the perimeter and the two they had already covered the large majority, but she knew that there were at least four more somewhere in the compound. Having finished their over watch duties, both Apollo and Starbuck set down their sniper rifles, strapped on their P-90s, and jumped out the windows. As they fast roped down the front of the building, Starbuck couldn't help but wonder if this was the best idea. They were next to a studio lot though, and normal here was not normal everywhere else. They both moved quickly through the park and found themselves on their other side of the park in only a few moments. While moving through the park, the rear fire team had already located Ronon and Teyla. They had both been in their trailers, apparently unaware that anything was going on. The second fire team had already cleared the first two buildings and dispatched another agent as Starbuck and Apollo came through the front gate.

"Reserve team, secure the gate," Starbuck called as she came past at a quick trot and clicked her mic again to secure the rest of the perimeter. "Rear fire team, take two to secure the rear entrance. Front fire team, send two up the nearest buildings. I want eyes in the air." As she finished her sentence, she and Apollo rounded the last corner to the building the front fire team was clearing and caught an agent coming from the building at full speed. The solid forearm she gave him as he passed put him on the ground quickly, and as she stopped to turn around and engage him Apollo put two bullets in his chest before the agent could move to evade them.

"All the other trailers are clear," the rear fire team leader said as they finished clearing all of the trailers and spaces that dotted the back of the lot. That left just the fourth and largest building for them to clear. She knew they hadn't been shooting _Wormhole X-treme! _today, so there was little to no staff on the lot. Starbuck did not take time to worry about the circumstance now as she placed the breaching charges on the door that would lead into the final building. There was only one other door, and that was a padlocked hangar-style door that they used to move set pieces in and out and clearly not usable right now. With a loud crack, the charge exploded and the C-4 and water charge cleanly disintegrated the door's hinges and handle. She had to admit these explosives the Tauri used were very creative. The first few rooms were simple to clear and they only had to shoot a few guards who had been simply patrolling the hall. Once out in the main room of the studio, they quickly found the last of their friends. Three agents had Dr. McKay tied to a chair on the grated flooring of a partial set. Behind Dr. McKay, the _Wormhole X-treme! _embarkation room stood with a pretty poor impression of a Stargate surrounding him at about ten feet. Daniel and Colonel Mitchell dispatched the two agents on either side of Dr. McKay quickly. The third agent was standing further back from Dr. McKay and the two now dead agents and had Colonel Sheppard on his knees and was standing over him holding a large revolver. Apparently they were trying to get information from them. The third agent smiled as he watched his two cohorts de-res, and two normal people's bodies fell to the ground.

"Mr. Anderson, I see you have brought your friends," Smith said to Neo as he noticed him come through the door with the last of the strike team.

"You don't have to kill him," Starbuck said as she eased her weapon up to show they posed no risk.

"Kill him now," Neo advised as he raised his hand and all five of the other members of the team raised their weapons. What happened next can only be described as surreal, as Starbuck and her friends depressed their triggers at the same time as Agent Smith, but somehow Neo raising his had made Smith's bullet stop the moment it left the barrel of his gun. Their bullets, however, did not stop, and as Smith attempted to dodge the first bullets, he was hit by several more and he too de-res'd and fell to the ground. They would not have long now – Smith was sure to begin to rally and come back in force.

"Thanks for that," Dr. McKay said as Daniel untied him from the chair. "They were trying to get information from us about the Tauri and their Stargate. They were serious loons. I tried to explain to them that it was just a TV show and they seemed to just get more mad as we talked."

"Rodney! They were about to shoot me. I think there was more to it than that," Sheppard shouted. He was clearly not happy with how McKay had acted in the situation. And he was unsure why everyone had stopped moving and was staring at them.

"Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard, I am Dr. Daniel Jackson. Do you know who I am?"

"Sure, you're the guy who founded the Stargate program. Is this a crossover episode? I hate those," Sheppard said as all of the other team members almost started to laugh.

"Neo, I need you to take the Ronon and Teyla to the safe house. Colonel Mitchell, can you take these two? I'll lead the rest of the team through a door or two to throw the agents off and meet you back there in a half hour. With that, Colonel Mitchell roughly picked up Dr. McKay and came over to Colonel Sheppard, who was now standing rubbing his wrists where they had been bound.

"I'll explain all of this later, but right now we need to get all of you out of here. More of the agents are coming."

"Let's go then. I didn't like them." The three of them disappeared as Mitchell had now fully integrated his ability to teleport and they appeared on the street in front of the safe house. Unfortunately, the mailman noticed them as he was making his rounds, and the agent that took over his body quietly went back to his mail truck and began calling in other agents and putting together their strike force.

-Safe House: Half Hour Later-

"What do you mean _Wormhole X-treme!_ is real?!" Rodney shouted as they explained for the third time what had happened.

"Obviously this is not working. Morpheus, we need to pull them out now," Dr. Jackson said, but Morpheus shook his head again.

"We have never pulled anyone from the Matrix without their explicit approval. I am not sure what would happen. What if we can't locate them in time?"

"That's not a problem. The _Enterprise_ already knows where there bodies are and as soon as I give the word they will beam them all aboard," Mitchell said.

"Here take these," Morpheus said to both Sheppard and McKay.

Both gave him a strange look and asked, "What is this?"

"It's for headaches. It's very fast acting and will help you think better, maybe a little more clearly," he said, not comfortable with what they were doing.

"You have to remember they have more already-embedded memories and stimuli than anyone you've ever pulled out before."

"We'll see if that makes a difference. Trinity, how is the location coming?" Morpheus asked as Trinity worked furiously, trying to locate and eject their carrier signals from the Matrix.

"One more second. Colonel, you had better pull off your headset and call the _Enterprise_."

Cam pulled his headset off and ejected himself from the Matrix. The ship was still pretty drab and very quiet with almost everyone else still inside the Matrix and their bodies laying silent. He quickly reached over Dr. Jackson, who was sitting next to him and grabbed his radio.

"_Enterprise_, this is Mitchell."

"We read you, five-by-five. What can we do for you, Colonel?"

"We need emergency beam outs for McKay and Sheppard. Monitor and make sure they're not connected physically to anything before you beam," Cam said as he thought for a second about what would come next. The ship's doctor came up next to him with his bag in hand.

"I've been watching the goings on with Switch, and I am ready to go."

"Beam up the good doctor and me right away. Dr. Jackson will call us when the other two are ready." Suddenly, the ship's doctor and Cam found themselves in the medical bay of the _Enterprise_ with two very distraught and strange-looking friends of theirs. The doctor immediately set to work, putting both men into a deep sleep. He had a lot of implants to remove and some muscles to re-grow.

"Switch," Cam spoke into his radio. "Let Daniel and Morpheus know both are out and fine. They are both under sedation now and he can go ahead with the extraction of Teyla and Ronon." Teyla appeared a few minutes later and Ronon about a half hour after that. Apparently Teyla had trusted them and taken her pill, but Ronon had only pretended to take his pill, and when they realized, it took all of them to subdue him. Finally, Daniel and Neo had forced the pill down his throat and he was back on the _Enterprise_ a few minutes later. He definitely looked sheepish when he appeared on the deck, having realized how wrong he was earlier and clearly apologizing without using any words.

"_Enterprise_, this is the _Nebuchadnezzar_."

"What can we do for you Morpheus?" Commodore Missen asked. "Did everyone get out okay?"

"Yes, but it was a close call. Apparently the agents had us staked out, because as the last of us were exiting they stormed the safe house. Trinity nearly missed dying while holding the phone," Morpheus said as a prelude. "Tell Colonel Mitchell if you could the team is heading back to Zion for a recharge. When he's ready we will be happy to see him."

"Will do. _Enterprise_ out." He turned off the channel and made his way down to the medical bay to check on the newly returned SG team. "Dr. Beckett. How are they doing?" He asked as he entered the room with Cam and Daniel.

"Good. It should be a week at least though before they are back at full strength. They won't be awake for another few hours though," he said as he monitored and observed while the doctor from the _Nebuchadnezzar_ worked on his patients.

"Those machines will pay for this," Cam declared as he watched his friends lying on the four tables spread around the room. They would pay indeed.


	9. Chapter 9: the space between

**The space between**

"Exiting hyperspace in twenty seconds."

"Let's come out slowly; we don't want to damage the Cylon ship," Dr. Weir said, standing up from her command chair aboard the _Odyssey_ as she watched the purple tear of a hyperspace window appear in front of them. Coming out of the window they were greeted promptly by the New Lantean defense network. It looked like most of the operating fleet of the Pegasus Command had been recalled and were preparing for some sort of action.

"General Caldwell, this is the _Odyssey_."

"We read you, five-by-five. I see you come with visitors?" Caldwell answered. His face now popped up on the forward view screen.

"I believe our allies may have need of this ship. Let the Asgard science team know I have something they need to see."

"I thought all the Asgard were dead, as of several years ago."

"You're right about that, but we've had a science team working to solve their genetic problems for several years. It was very much an off-the-books project," Weir said with a lowered voice. "Which is why their labs were here on New Lantea. Anyway, the Asgard stored several thousand of their consciousnesses aboard a massive Asgard core hidden away somewhere. If we can find the cure to their genetic issue, we can bring their species back to life."

"That's incredible. I'll find them and send them your way. What is the ship?" Caldwell asked as the _Odyssey_ and the Cylon ship entered orbit.

"I believe this is a Cylon resurrection ship. If I'm right, this is where the Cylon human forms get their new bodies."

Caldwell nodded and changed the subject. "I've been instructed to send a portion of our operating fleet with you back to Caprica. Apparently things on the Thirteenth Colony are getting a little hectic. General O'Neil thinks the machines will be launching a massive attack sometime soon. While he doesn't need more firepower as such, he does need a lot of support ships and personnel who can handle refugees." Caldwell finished his update and waited for his commander's response.

"How many refugees does he think he will have? I still haven't told the Colonial leadership about the Thirteenth Colony and their situation."

"He said it could be as many as a hundred million."

"Wow!"

"Exactly, which is why we need the help of the Colonies."

"Aren't the refugee Thirteeners here on New Lantea?" She asked, beginning to form a plan.

"Yes. In fact the entire Council is here on the planet. Shall I get them for you?"

"No, no need. I'll beam down to their meeting place and talk to them. Can you resupply us and set us up to resupply the other Auroras? They were down to ten percent stores on drones and other supplies."

"I'll have it all ready by the time you ready to leave, and I'm sending another eight ships with you," he said as he cut the line and set to work preparing the fleet that would be leaving shortly.

"Colonel Chekov, have them beam me down to the Thirteenth's camp site." She stood and nodded at him when she was ready and disappeared in a column of light. The hasty camp the Thirteeners had set up was by no means pretty. Composed almost entirely of excess drab olive green GP Medium tents, the camp looked impossible to navigate. Weir heard heavy equipment working in the distance and could tell they were trying to bring them some more substantial services. She was surprised to find there were no people outside. Where had everyone gone? She wondered to herself. Just then, she recognized a small sign on the edge of the tent closest to her that signified it as the Council Tent. Stepping briskly into the tent, she found the Council busy in session discussing something of importance. Several people were engaged in an intense discussion of some sort. Weir waited several moments until someone noticed that someone new was in the room and the Lead Councilor made motion for the discussion to cease. After a few moments he stood up and addressed her.

"Who might you be, and what is your business here? We were not aware anyone from the Tauri was currently in our camp," he challenged.

"I am Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the civilian commander of this outpost. Currently I have been working on a treaty with the Twelve Colonies of Kobol." She paused as the people sitting in the tent all began to murmur. After a moment, the Lead Councilor again raised a hand and the crowd gathered in front of him and the other Councilors at the head of the tent stopped talking.

"We had heard rumor of that. Is it true, then, that you are not the Twelve Colonies and that they do not know of us?"

"That's true. They are unaware you still exist. I would like to continue, but we have need of haste. The coming battle on your planet is likely to be the last one for the machines and it is quite possible that all of your people enslaved by those machines could be released." All of the people around her began to applaud and chatter while the Lead Councilor and Dr. Weir shared concerned looks.

After another moment, the Lead Councilor again raised his hands and this time shouted, "Silence everyone! We must hear the rest of what Dr. Weir has to say."

"We don't have the resources to help all your people at once if this happens." Again she paused as the people realized some of their brothers and sisters might not survive the transition. "I believe, though, that if we can get the Colonies' help, we can save a great many more."

"How can we help in this matter?" The Lead Councilor pleaded.

"I would like to take the Council with me to their capital city and meet with their president. We can tell him about you and request his help."

"Are you asking us to come with you?"

"Yes." She finished as the people around her sat, taking in all the new information.

"Please, give us a moment. The Council will need an empty chamber for this discussion, so everyone else must leave now. Dr. Weir, please wait outside the tent," the Lead Councilor said, and with that the Councilors all huddled behind the table and quietly discussed their options.

It didn't take very long for a decision to be made, and the Lead Councilor and two others came out of the tent to find the doctor, who was intently questioning a heavy equipment operator who had been coming by.

"Dr. Weir, three of us have agreed to come with you. The rest of the Council will stay here and lead our people while we are gone. It had been our hope that we would meet them under better conditions, but sometimes you cannot control the situation; you must simply make the best of what you have."

She smiled at that. "My people have a saying: 'If someone gives you lemons, you make lemonade.'"

The Councilors all smiled too, though they probably had no idea what she meant.

"We must leave right away. Please pack a small bag of essentials and be back here in thirty minutes." The Councilors quickly left to prepare themselves while Dr. Weir turned back around and continued to chat with the heavy equipment operator.

Twenty minutes later, the three Thirteeners reappeared and Weir said, "Colonel Chekov, four to beam up."

Finding themselves aboard the _Odyssey,_ Weir had them shown to their quarters and finished preparations to leave the New Lantean system.

"Colonel, are all ships ready?"

"Yes, Ma'am. We have ten ships in formation and all report ready for departure."

"Is the ZPM installed?" Dr. Weir asked. She had been informed upon arriving they would be provided with a ZPM for the duration of the mission. As the lead ship, they needed the ability to form larger hyperspace windows for the whole fleet, and they would likely need to tow whatever assistance they acquired to the Thirteenth.

"Yes, Ma'am, the ZPM's all set."

"Open the window," Weir said. The hyperspace window opened and all ten ships disappeared into the void.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Caprica: Presidential Command Bunker

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

President Adar sat watching the monitors at the front of the room. It looked like the last of the Cylons were being finished off by Admiral Cain's force on the outskirts of the Cyrannus System. President Adar could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he watched the last of the Raiders wink out of existence. After more than forty years of fear from the Cylons, it looked like it might finally be over. They did still need to muster a force and visit their home world. At least now they knew where it was, thanks to their new friends the Tauri. So little was really known about them, though. The public only knew these new people had rounded up all the Cylon spies among them. Fortunately, they had been here to do that, because if the public had found out about the spies in any other way there would have been mass panic. It would have been horrific. Adar thought about all this while he sat watching the screens and writing the speech he would give in a few hours. Just now people were receiving the first 'all clears' across the Colonies. When the first word had gone out about the Cylon invasion, everyone made for shelters or hiding places. With the invasion crushed, they would come out now, and they would want to know what had happened. The president would be ready.

"Mr. President. A fleet of ships has appeared on the outer edge of the system. Ten ships." Alarms blared and the concrete and steel door to the bunker was closed again.

"Who is it? Order Admiral Cain to intercept," he ordered. His orders were quickly carried out.

"President Adar," a familiar voice called over the communications system.

"This is the president. It's good to hear your voice, Dr. Weir. Are those your ships entering the system?"

"Yes, We brought a few more ships. I would like to meet; we have some important matters to discuss."

"Can it wait a few hours? I have an important speech to deliver to my people to tell them about the Cylons and the part you have played in all of this."

"I appreciate it very much, but what we have to talk about will be another part of that puzzle. Can we meet right away?"

"Yes, I suppose so." Ten people appeared very suddenly inside the presidential bunker all but panicking the president's security detail.

"Sorry for the surprise," Weir apologized while making sure her security people also stayed at rest. "Has Admiral Cain been able to brief you on what has been discovered on Kobol and beyond?"

"No. Her briefing was scheduled for after my speech to the Colonies," he said, now very obviously confused.

"Okay. If possible, I would like to give you and your senior staff part of her briefing at once. Can I get them here right away? It's vitally important we act quickly." She knew she was stretching their trust a bit.

"Yes, that will be fine. Fortunately you've earned our trust; otherwise this would not be happening." At his signal, one of the security team beamed back out and began to gather the people one of his aides had told him to bring.

Thirty minutes later, they were all seated around a table for the briefing Dr. Weir would be giving. While the Thirteener Council, the senior leadership of the Colonies, Colonel Chekov, and two other ships' commanders were at the table, along with the rest of the of the Colonial Military's senior leadership along with Admiral's Nagala and Cain.

"I have gathered all of you together to tell you that our chance meeting on Kobol was a little more expansive than first thought. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say one of our Gate teams ended up being bounced through the Kobol Gate and out into an unknown planet in between galaxies." The screen behind her displayed a starchart illustrating the positions of Caprica, Kobol, and the orphan planet the Thirteenth Colony was located on. "On this new planet, we discovered a people living below ground fighting a machine enemy that had enslaved their people. We have now confirmed that they are the lost Thirteenth Colony of Kobol." Weir took a moment to look over at the Councilors as the rest of the room erupted in chatter and surprise. "Commander Adama is there now, along with the _Galactica_ and her support ships. He can verify this information." They quieted down though the president was very obviously surprised by this information.

"That's amazing. What can we do?" For the next forty minutes, the briefing went on with Weir giving information and the president asking questions while Admiral Cain supported with information. After around twenty minutes, Dr. Weir introduced the Councilors and explained who they were. There were a lot of tears and surprised faces. It was a lot for many of the people to take in, and a lot would have to be worked through for these once-united people who had been separated for so long.

"In closing, I would like to formally ask for the assistance of the Colonies to rescue any and all members of the Thirteenth Colony. We need any humanitarian supplies and all the hospitals and hospital ships you can muster," Dr. Weir begged the president and she hoped this meeting had the desired effect. The Councilors truly looked worried, not knowing what sort of people these Colonials were.

"Dr. Weir." The president paused. "I would like to reverse that and say that we consider this an internal matter of the Colonies, whether currently united to the Thirteenth or not, and we ask for any help _you_ can give _us_. We will be sending every available hospital ship and field medic and field hospital we can muster. No one from the Thirteenth Colony will die if we can help it." At that, the room erupted in cheers at the notion of saving their newfound brothers.

"Then we must act now," Dr. Weir shouted over the din, and everyone stopped their cheering and recomposed themselves. It was time to get to work.

"Each of the twelve ships that we have in the Colonies can safely tow another five Battlestar-sized ships through hyperspace. It will take them a day and a half to get there due to the reduced speeds. I believe we can also calculate your jump points to allow for a much shorter travel time for the follow-up aid and supplies."

"That is all well and good. Work it out with Nagala – I must speak to my people. Councilors, you come with me. I would like to give my speech and then introduce you to the people of the Twelve Colonies." The Councilors all jumped at the chance and followed the president out of the room as he made his way back to his residence and briefing area where he would give his speech.

"Admiral Nagala, how soon can you have your ships ready to go?" Weir asked as she ambled over next to him near the head of the table.

"Normally I would say seventy-two hours minimum, but with the alert on and the fact that you can assist, I think we can do it in forty-eight. I placed one admiral in charge of each group that will accompany your ships. If you would, we can let them work together to prepare their fleets."

Weir nodded.

"I have thirty-six hospital ships that are ready to go right now. The other twenty-four ships should be twelve supply freighters you can fill with supplies and twelve Warstars we can equip with field hospitals."

"That should be perfect. My ships can act as ferry agents, bringing people to and from the planet and hospital ships, and the field hospitals can be set up planetside for the less serious. This just might work," Weir said.

Nagala thought of something else. "What about security here in the Colonies if the Cylons make a last desperate attack?"

"Not a problem. General O'Neill has found only two other Cylon Baseships, and they're both protecting their homeworld. And, when I call him here in a minute I'll request a few more ships to patrol those holes in the satellite network so the Colonies will be safe for now."

With that done, they separated to complete their various tasks. Unnoticed, a cleric from one of the leading religious orders had been sitting quietly at the back of the room listening intently to the briefing and taking stock of all that was said. Once Weir and Nagala had left, he too left and made his way to parts unknown. Clearly for him, this event was only the beginning.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Kobol: Same Time

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was a beautiful day on Kobol. Commander Adama had just finished another tour of the ruins of Kobol with Dr. Rush. It was obvious that Rush was not pleased to be giving the tour to the commander again, but it was protocol with allies to do exactly that when finding new parts of the ruins that needed their attention. Apparently the massive trees that were shepherding the main Stargate on the planet were also hiding what they believed to be the Tomb of Athena. Adama was on his way back from there now, and Dr. Rush was riding along with him, clearly not happy at the wasted two hours. The truth was, Adama found it amusing to annoy the good doctor. While he generally had little tolerance for arrogance, he did find some fun in twisting Dr. Rush's screws a bit.

"Rush, come in."

"Yes, Sir."

"Is Adama with you still?" General O'Neill asked. In answer, Rush turned and handed the radio to the commander.

"Yes, General, what can I do for you?"

"How was the tomb of Athena?"

"It was beautiful, General. I'm not much of a religious man though, so it does not hold the same allure for me that it will for others. What did you need, Sir?"

"Right. I am about to have Caprica back online in a minute, and I would like you to be here. I think they might put the president on the line. I'm sure he'll have questions."

"I'm certain he will. We will have to hurry, but we'll be there." Upon hearing the conversation, the driver pressed his gas pedal and they moved much faster.

"Hello, Mr. President. My name is General O'Neill," Jack said as he and Commander Adama stood beside each other in the satellite control room.

"General O'Neill. I recently received a briefing from your Dr. Weir and I have a few questions. First, where is your homeworld? And might we be able to visit it at some point? Also, she briefly explained to me the satellite network that you have control of, but I don't fully understand how it works. Can you give me more information?"

"I can definitely do that. First though, as a general rule, we don't give out the location of Earth until we've formalized a treaty of friendship with someone. Usually that also entails a visit to our home planet. In this circumstance, that visit will definitely be by Gate as the travel time by one of your current ships would be in the thousands of years." He paused to let that register. "I will also add that we operate in three galaxies, and this galaxy is not our home galaxy, but we do have more than thirty allies here in Pegasus, so we're not going anywhere. Our main base here is on New Lantea, where your people are helping immensely with the dry docks. The satellite system…I'd say you should come and see for yourself. It's quite impressive, and it appears that your people don't have the ability to operate it. We can handle that another time. Once we've formalized that treaty, we'll happily share any information you need," Jack concluded.

"Commander Adama. First, let congratulate you on the job you've done so far. You have my thanks."

"Thank you, Sir," Adama said as he braced himself for whatever was coming.

"Next, I'm honored to say that you have been given a field promotion and commensurate with your current duties you are being given the rank of Rear Admiral."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Adama said, stunned.

"As soon as we are able, we'll be sending out both a fleet of ships to protect and a fleet to study Kobol. You are guarding our national jewel. You need the tools."

"I will, Sir, and I thank you, Sir."

Jack frowned a bit at this. He was excited for the commander, now rear admiral, but this planet could very quickly become a wedge between their peoples if he wasn't careful.

"We'll do all we can to protect this planet and all the history it holds for your people until such time as we decide together what to do with it," Jack stated.

"No need for the politics right now, General. We all know that your intentions are clear and well intended. While some decisions are not ours to make, we have no doubt that we are friends in this."

Jack visibly deflated a bit at the intended word of support. He did not need another enemy, especially one with the industrial capacity of the Colonies.

"Primarily, what I called about was to inform you that we will be sending more than fifty ships along with your fleet to the Thirteenth Colony out in the void between galaxies. With all of that force gone, I would like to formally request your assistance in maintaining surveillance and interdiction of the Cylon threat." Now here it is, Jack thought as the president finally got down to the politicking.

"Of course. We have the satellite system up and running and are producing new satellites at the rate of three a month right now. What could help, though, are some mining vessels. Currently we don't have much capacity in zero gravity mining, which I hear you might have some expertise in?" Jack asked.

"We can definitely work that out. All in good time. What about the Cylons?"

"Yes. They are no longer a threat. We destroyed everything of theirs outside their home star system, and as we speak we have a ship on the way to that system to deal with them there," Jack said, not wanting to give more information than absolutely necessary.

"Can we have someone from the Colonies aboard to witness their destruction?"

"Unfortunately not. There wouldn't be much to see, however, since we're going to destroy their entire star system," Jack said flatly. As long as he was giving them a little, he figured there was no reason to hold back.

"What do you mean?" President Adar said sounding genuinely surprised.

"Well, another general rule of ours is to destroy every vestige of whatever machine race we find, but since these particular ones are so vile we decided to explode their star, making it go supernova. That supernova will utterly destroy everything within five light years around it. They will for all intents and purposes cease to exist in just a few hours." Both Adar and Adama were silent as the realization set in. Jack's message definitely got through, as they both now fully realized the Tauri could be great friends but they most definitely did not ever want to be enemies of the Tauri.

XXXXXXXXXX

Cylon Homeworld

XXXXXXXXXX

"How did this happen!?" Leoben shouted as representatives from all of the surviving lines met to discuss what had become their absolute defeat. He had been raging for nearly fifteen minutes now, and this newest had round started after reports came in that the resurrection ship had been hijacked and stolen by the Tauri. "We must rebuild right now!" Leoben shouted again and the others in the room sat in shock, all having thought this would be an easy victory.

"I move to remove Leoben as Commander," a Caprica Six stood and motioned.

"I concur, as do all of our line. We must sue for peace. Our survival depends on it."

"This is insane!" Leoben continued yelling as he removed a handgun he had hidden in his shirt and pointed it at the Six. He was immediately regretful as two centurions came out of the hall and leveled their weapons at Leoben.

"Then we should vote. All in favor Leoben being removed?" The Seven announced as she raised her hand and counted the votes of the other lines. The final vote was all but unanimous. Only Leoben voted against his removal, and Caprica Six became the new leader of the Cylon resistance.

"We have an unknown transmission coming from the center of our star system!" Someone shouted.

"Put it on." They all listened intently as the voice came into their heads.

"Cylon homeworld and leadership. We did not begin this war, but you have proved to be a threat we cannot ignore. As a consequence of attacking us, we have decided that you are no longer needed in this galaxy and as such you will cease to exist in fifteen minutes. Thank you."

They could hear laughing in the background and they were very confused.

"Something is wrong. It appears that something is wrong with our star," one of the techs said with concern.

"How do you know that?" Caprica Six asked, sounding very worried herself.

"Our solar collectors have started to fluctuate wildly." Six heard and quickly stepped to the door of the facility they were working in. As she stepped through the door and out into the noonday sun, she was surprised to find that the sun was visibly fluctuating and was noticeably expanding. Her skin was immediately burned.

"I don't understa.…" She was never able to finish her thought as the sun exploded and she and the others were melted away by the heat emanating from the star. The planet itself only survived a few more minutes as the star covered the distance to and beyond the planet, eventually engulfing the entire system.

-_Apollo_: Cylon Home System-

"Sir, we have launched the device," the XO said as he and the entire bridge staff watched the single missile travel its path.

"How long until the device does its job?" Colonel Cranson asked.

"Fifteen minutes, Sir," the XO answered, smiling.

"Let's have a little fun with them. XO, put out a hail on all frequencies."

"Ready, Sir."

"Cylon homeworld and leadership." He paused to think for a second. "We did not begin this war, but you have proved to be a threat we cannot ignore. As a consequence of attacking us, we have decided that you are no longer needed in this galaxy and as such you will cease to exist in fifteen minutes." He paused again to hold in his own laugh. "Thank you." The entire bridge starting to chuckle a bit at that and he made the signal to cut the line. It was definitely gallows humor, but after what these machines had put the Colonials through, a little humor was just the sort of relief they needed. After all, he was just quoting a book he loved. Well, sort of.

"Sir, the star is breaking down faster than we expected. I recommend we move to a safe distance."

"Go. Don't wait for me," he instructed the XO, who engaged the hyperdrive and increased the shield strength to maximum while the star began to expand. It was quite a sight, the star going supernova and the planets all melding into the explosion.

"I think we should name it the Cylon Nebula," the colonel remarked as he watched the explosion begin to die out. Eventually, it would coalesce into a nebula where it would create new stars and planets.

"The rule is, Sir, that the first to discover it get to name it, so I think that you have earned that one."

"That sounds good then. We need to be back in the Cyrannus System as soon as possible. We can bring them good news at least." They turned the _Apollo_ around and made their exit, on the way to the Twelve Colonies. They would soon begin their ferrying duties and help where they could, because today they had done the dirty work.

For the other ship near them, though, it was a moment of horror. Hidden behind a nearby meteor sat one last Heavy Raider. This Heavy Raider was full of Cylon human forms going to the home planet. They had been coming from a secret base in a different star system, a base so secret that not even all the Cylons knew of it. It so happened that the Cylons were not actually new to the idea of Stargates. These survivors would return to that secret base, and they would plan.


	10. Chapter 10: wars and rumors of wars

**Wars and rumors of wars**

The Docks were a bustling hive of activity. All around the Docks there were technicians and weapons officers making their last adjustments. For the last few hours a very loud droning sound had been growing in the ceiling above them. Everyone knew what it was and it made them all work faster.

"Colonel, are your people ready yet?" Commander Lock asked as he walked up behind Colonel Mitchell.

"I think so, Commander. We are about to turn on the shield generator." Softly, the generator began to hum and after a second or two the walls shimmered golden momentarily as the shield activated. "The shield should hold them for a while. It won't stand up to the heaviest bombardments but it will give them pause and kill anything it comes into contact with until it gives way."

"I didn't know it could be lethal to those that touch it," Lock said, with implied question of the safety of his own personnel.

"Don't worry – it only works one way. We can walk and shoot through it," Cam explained as he watched the technicians around them busy at work.

"Sir, weapons tracking systems are now online. All Phalanx systems are online and tracking."

"Excellent work," Cam said as the tech turned to go on to the next task.

"If you'll excuse me, Colonel, I need to head back down to the temple level to coordinate our third phase line defenses. Hopefully we won't need them," Lock said, and then turned to walk away to make the last preparations. The battle coming would be a big one.

"Are the reinforcements in place yet?" Colonel Sheppard spoke into his radio as he looked around the Dock area at all of the gun emplacements and other articles of war. The last three days had been very long ones, spent trying to recover from all of the beating their bodies had taken over the last few weeks. They had removed almost all of the implants the machines had placed in his body, but they would never be able to remove the metal receptacle at the back of his neck. That was just too dangerous. He placed his hand back on the metal scar again as he thought about the time he spent in the Matrix and how he ended up there. He had had to fight with the doctors to get back on duty, but he simply had to be here. After what they had done to him, there was no way he would be sidelined while they were fighting these things.

"Sir, the convoy is three hours out. It looks like they are fifty ships strong."

"Great. Hopefully they have a lot of hospital beds because we are going to need them." In the next breath he turned and moved from the dock floor into the crane complex. He needed to know how far the machines were from Zion. He knew the recent nuke in the shaft above Zion had hit their numbers pretty hard and slowed them down quite a bit, but they definitely did not stop.

"I need an update," he said as he approached the station that monitored the progress of the machines.

"They have another half mile, Sir. It looks like they're digging three different holes."

"Do you have an ETA?"

"Hard to say, Sir. There is some leeway in the time but they should break the surface in an hour and a half, give or take."

John contemplated this timeframe and what he would have to have in place, whom he had to hurry up. "Thanks. Get the last of the ships out of here." At that, he left the control room quickly. A minute later he was out of the crane complex and making his way down into the tube that was the city of Zion. He still couldn't completely grasp how large a city this was. To think an entire city could exist underground like this was amazing. "McKay, what is the eta on the city ship you're trying to raise?" It somewhat amused Colonel Sheppard that McKay was almost always was the quickest to recover but always seemed to whine more than any three soldiers he knew put together.

"We've cleared out most of the water, and we should have the ZPMs installed in the next fifteen minutes. I think, though, that we should check all of the systems before we raise it from the bottom of the ocean. If we get to the surface and something goes wrong, I would hate for it to fall into the wrong hands."

"I agree. We may need some assistance in about two hours so work as fast as you can." He changed channels quickly as he was moving on to his next item on his mental checklist. "Major Young, We need all dock crews up and ready. They will be here in less than two hours and we need to be ready when the machines break through."

"Yes, Sir. I will inform Captain Mufuni and his APU Corps, as well as Colonel Caprice from the Tenth Mountain. They will be ready," he said, preparing his Rangers in case they needed to defend a retreat at the mouth of the cavern and the last exit from the city they would need if things fell apart. The plan had been made that the main battle would be at the Docks and, if that failed, they could use multiple EMPs to sterilize the dock and then defend the city while people retreated through the Gate inside the cavern until the last of the military personnel could escape out the Gate, at which point they would detonate a Mark IX and destroy the Gate and the city. If they couldn't hold the city, the machines would not be getting the city or the Gate. The _Normandy_ had already retrieved the Gate from Machine City so they could not get their hands on the Ancient technology. One way or another, these machines would never leave this planet; he would definitely see to that.

"Off-world activation!" Sheppard heard Major Young call over the radio as he was rounding the corner and entering the cavern they referred to as the Temple. Sheppard was surprised to find a group of Colonials were coming through. The group seemed rather large, and the officer in charge quickly found him to make his report.

"I am Major Kronon. We have two companies coming though with heavy weapons to help defend the city. We were able to activate the Gate inside our temple at Delphi. It turned out it wasn't just a decoration after all," the major said with a salute.

"Good. I have no idea where that is, though." Sheppard paused, about to say more when two things happened very quickly. Major Caprice had been approaching the colonel from behind to notify him that people were in place when she noticed a Colonial major was speaking to Sheppard. Major Kronon noticed her and his eyes went quite large midway through the last sentence the colonel spoke, and within a second or so he had moved past the colonel and in one fluid motion pulled out his combat knife and issued a textbook frontal takedown of Caprice. By the time that Colonel Sheppard had turned around, Kronon had Major Caprice on the ground with his knife to her throat.

"I don't know how you got past them, but I will not let you hurt these people, Cylon," he all but shouted, panting slightly from the physical exertion it took to keep her augmented body on the ground. He suddenly found himself flying through the air as Sheppard locked his arms around him and thrown him off of Caprice. Caprice started to get up, but Sheppard motioned for her to stay down. She obeyed.

"What are you doing, Major? We do not strike other officers without provocation!"

"She is a Cylon! We just finished rounding up all of them in the Colonies." All of his marines who had come through the Gate were now standing, watching their commander, weapons at the ready. The other marines in the room also watched, although they were more concerned about the marines who were still entering through the Gate and the threat they might pose if this went haywire. Major Young was in the background, quietly calling for reinforcements.

"What are you talking about? I've been out of action for the last two weeks and I have no idea what's going on."

"He's crazy!" Caprice shouted as she sat, knowing how tricky this situation was.

"He's right," Kronon's second in command said, giving Sheppard pause. One person acting crazy was weird, but another corroborating was a different matter.

"We can sort all of this out in a minute," Sheppard decided as he keyed his radio to have the commodore take the major into custody and sort it out. Major Caprice saw she was not getting away from this, so she did what she thought she had to and took her knife, which she had quietly pulled out earlier, sprung up, and held it tightly against Sheppard's neck.

"You will not take me alive. Right now, as we speak, my brothers are laying waste to your home worlds!" She screamed at the Colonials. She did not get to say anything else, as Sheppard sighed and then with a blinding flash of speed he had grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder, dropping her in front of him hard on the ground. Instead of hopping up quickly, however, Sheppard took her head in his hands and without a second thought he simply snapped her neck. The crack reverberated throughout the small area and all the Colonials winced slightly at the quiet brutality of it all.

"Dammit. I didn't want to do that," he muttered as he stood back up and looked down at Caprice's still form. Major Kronon had also stood up and looked Colonel Sheppard directly in the eye.

"I am sorry if I put you in danger, Colonel. If you would like to report me to my superiors and ask for my rank I will give it," he said a little sadly.

"Major, consider the matter forgotten. Next time give me some kind of warning."

"Yes, Sir," he said, watching the Rangers pick up the major's body.

"We'll have to deal with her later. Major, I need you and your men up top on the Docks. Major Young will direct you from there." He tried to remember what he just been about to do. "Colonel Mitchell, what is your status?" He called over his radio, knowing he would probably not answer right away.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Matrix: Same Time.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Morpheus, we need to make this work."

"Please explain again why we have to talk to the machines at all. I don't get it."

"We have to get some of the machines to agree to keep some of the farms and the Matrix operational for a little while so we can let people out slowly. We simply don't have the ability to help all of these people at once." Morpheus walked away after Daniel finished his sentence. For so long, Morpheus had though of anyone not already out of the Matrix as an enemy. He simply had a hard time seeing any of the people inside the system as being savable.

"If any kind of deal is to be made, we must go and talk to Origin," the Architect said from between Daniel and Neo. The four of them had been standing to the side of the warehouse where all the Red Pills had been meeting. They were trying to put a plan together for an attempted severing of the Matrix from Machine City's control. Having captured the Merovingian, the Architect, and the Oracle, they had learned a great deal about how the Matrix worked. It turned out they really might be able to take over control of the Matrix and all of the people in it. They would still need some help from the programs within the Matrix. This whole operation would take a lot of time and people. This was why they were meeting and why they were trying to set up a meeting with Origin. What Daniel was not telling them was that if Origin was who he thought he was, he could crush all of this before it even began if Daniel did not deal with him first.

"One way or another we have to meet with him." Daniel stared intently at Morpheus, who had turned around and was walking back to the group.

"I want it known that I don't think this is a good idea. If we tip him off, it could endanger us all."

"If it does not go as planned, I will deal with him." Daniel looked at Neo as he said this. "If he is who I think he is, even your partially ascended powers will be no good." Neo gave him a curios look and motioned for the two of them to leave the room and step outside.

"Who should we bring on this trip? I don't want to endanger any lives that we don't have to."

"I think you, myself, and Cam should be sufficient. I'm afraid if we bring any of the rogue programs he will kill them on site or turn them against us."

"I think I agree. We need to get the information from the Architect and leave for the meeting right away. Everyone else needs to get themselves in place for the operation. "

"Agreed. I'm getting word from the operator that the machines are a little over two hours out from Zion. We have to move fast," Daniel said and they both reentered the warehouse and issued the final orders for the group to head out to their pre-assigned points.

"How do we meet Origin? We cannot take you with us, so I need every piece of information you can give." Neo said as he regarded the Architect with an intensity to which the Architect was not accustomed.

"In the mountains in the far north…." For the next ten minutes, the Architect gave Neo very specific information for the codes and doors that they would have to go through to reach the part of Machine City where they could find Origin. Neo and Daniel had left the Matrix only once when they retrieved the Architect, and from what he told them this time they would go much further into the city. As Cam and Daniel joined Neo, it became clear the Architect believed they had little chance of success. "…I wish you luck," he finished as Neo shook his hand and sent him off to join his assigned group.

"Cam, do you remember the mansion in the mountains that we visited?"

"Yep."

"Take us there." And with that, Mitchell firmly gripped the forearms of both Neo and Daniel and in an instant they were all three standing on the doorstep of the mansion in the mountains.

"We have a lot to do." And so began the journey that would lead them to Origin.

Matrix: Trinity and Morpheus near a Matrix Entry Point

The night had come on rather quickly for some reason. When they had left the warehouse thirty minutes ago, it had been a pretty, cloudless day. The kind of late spring day that made it feel nice to be outside. Morpheus had to remind himself this was not the real world, and the person in charge of that part of the Matrix obviously had done it for a reason. It made it harder to get around, but it was a definite reminder that a major battle was coming.

"Is everyone in place?" Morpheus asked as he came up behind Trinity, who was monitoring the progress of all the Red Pills as they moved into place. "We are ten minutes out from everyone being in place. Once Neo gives the go-ahead, it should take about an hour to make all of this happen."

"I still can't believe we can actually break away from the machines like this. It just doesn't sound real to me." Trinity nodded her head as she listened to the incoming reports and readied her own weapons. They would be one of the first to move. Their particular point of ingress would be one of the five major substations that supplied power from the fields (i.e. power stations) to the city. The substations would need to be broken. As soon as they were broken, they could go about cutting all of the other connections that would separate them from Machine City. The substation itself was located on the outskirts of town, so anyone around it would be far more obvious than the teams that were in the city, which was why they were sitting in the back of a black panel van surrounded by communications equipment.

"We are at our final ingress point. We are going in. Do not move until you hear from one of us again."

"Good luck, Neo," Trinity said with a tinge of fear in her voice. The fact was that she loved Neo and couldn't imagine losing him. She hated not being beside him in a fight.

"Thanks."

Matrix: Final Ingress Point

"Lets go," Daniel ordered as Neo punched a code into the keypad that held the last door of the Matrix from the city center that they were about to enter. What would come next, none of them knew. There was a loud "beep" as Neo punched in the last number and the door simply disappeared. All three of them jumped slightly, as they had expected to see something standing behind the door. Cam was the first through the door and was surprised to find that they were standing in the center square of a large building. It was strange, though, because the building itself seemed to have been built around this beautiful garden. It was lush all around them, with pinks and oranges and reds of the flowers along with the greens and browns of the bushes and grasses they were stepping around. The building itself seemed to go up forever even though the sunlight shone down as though they were standing in the middle of a field in the country in the noonday sun. It was surreal. In the center of the garden they found a large gazebo, white and tall, around a center pavilion. The gazebo was covered in green vines and purple grapes that Daniel was sure were some kind of wine grape, which he remembered clearly, because of who they saw when they made their way around the gazebo to the front entrance. Standing before them was a mid-sized man with a fairly unassuming build; his long shocks of brown hair and deep green eyes gave the impression that he was both happy to see anyone and eternally ready to listen. Daniel was the only one of the three of them to not be awed by his presence and power.

"So, we meet again."

"Neo, I am surprised to see you among such people. Surely a believer such as you would choose better than these." As he spoke, Daniel quietly placed his had on Neo's forearm to catch his attention and let him know he was in control here.

"I had thought you died along with the rest of the ORI," Daniel remarked as he watched Origin and examined his look and how his energy within the Matrix moved and swayed to the energy that coursed through them all. "You have changed, Origin. Did your escape damage you?"

"You thought you had killed us all. I alone escaped and wandered for a long time. I tried to go back far enough that I could change what you had done, but I could not so I wandered between galaxies and found this isolated planet. When I found these people I tried to bring them the truth of Origin. They did listen for a time, but they were arrogant. They told me that they too had created. They had created new life in the form of sentient machines and that they did not need me. That is when I took control of these machines that they said existed to serve them. I visited my wrath upon them. They nearly wiped out my new people, but we found a way to survive."

"You cannot continue to keep these people in slavery Origin. You must let them go. Stay here if you like but you must let these people go." Daniel waited to see his response. It did not take long.

"I will never release them. And you cannot defeat me here. I have changed my form in this place. And you do not have the knowledge to reach me."

"That's where you're wrong, Origin. What you do not know is that I have been ascended before. Coming here has reopened my memories, and I now have all of my knowledge and experiences from that time." As Daniel finished his last statement, Origin began to change form. He seemed in some way to begin to melt as though he were a candle and his wax was too hot. As he melted, Daniel stepped to the front and began to move his hands in circular motions creating the illusion of a shield in front of him. As he did this, he began to reach out at different points and plunge his left hand into the mass that had been Origin. As he did this it almost seemed as though the melting mass started to assume a different shape of some kind. After several minutes of this and the strange silence that had taken hold of the other two men, the mass began to emit a strange humming sound. "Back up!" Daniel said, rather out of breath as Origin seemed to shatter and a glowing light rose from the now shattered mass. The light itself seemed to begin to change color from the soft quiet glow of yellow to the red hue of anger

"This is not over, Dan…" Daniel stopped Origin short by stopping his hands and speaking to the orb.

"Stop. Never again will you seek to harm people or twist things to your purpose." With that final statement the floating light began to dim. The other two could not believe what they were witnessing as they could clearly hear Origin begin to bang on the walls of the light bulb-like object, as if trapped inside. Within seconds the light extinguished itself and as no more. "That is that," Daniel said flatly. He had to steady himself a little from the toll his previous efforts had taken on him.

After a few moments, the three men stepped back outside the gazebo and found that their radios immediately sprang to life. "

Cam, Daniel, Neo. Come in," Trinity shouted over the radio. Neo didn't understand her desperation. They had only been out of contact for ten minutes at most. Something must have happened, he realized as he reached for his transmit switch.

"What happened, Trinity?"

"Where are you? You've been out of contact for two hours now. The machines have begun their attack on Zion." The three men standing in the beautiful courtyard garden of the city center immediately broke into a run to get themselves out of the Machine City construct as quickly as possible.

"We will be out of the city in thirty seconds. You have a go for one minute countdown," Daniel informed her as he extruded a key into his hand so they could exit.

"You'll have to tell us what happened later, Daniel," Cam said as Daniel placed the key into the door they had come from, and Neo shook his head and grunted in agreement with the Colonel. As the door opened and Neo stepped through, Daniel took one last glance around and was surprised to find the flowers that had once been beautiful in their reds, greens, and yellows were now all differing shades of brown. He wondered to himself as he stepped through the door behind Colonel Mitchell if they had ever been alive at all, or if all of it had been an illusion.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Zion: Twenty Minutes Ago

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The noise of the burrowing diggers coming down to Zion had steadily grown louder over the past hour until the first bits of limestone had begun to fall from the ceiling onto the floor of the Docks. Lock had been very clear that he did not want the shields to be powered up until after the diggers themselves had fallen from the ceiling. Something about wanting to destroy them first and without a bunch of Sentinels being in the way. Sheppard had been standing in the middle of the dock area for several minutes now as he listened to the drone of the diggers while also listening intently to the speech Captain Mufuni gave to his APU Corps, with their massive hulking frames and large guns attached to both hands of their machine bodies. Sheppard had been surprised to learn the cannons they carried were exactly the same caliber as the Vulcan Cannons the U.S. Air Force used on their hunter/killer planes. The Warthogs had been in heavy use in Pegasus now, so it was a pleasant surprise for the captain when the Tauri had shown up with a new round for his Corps to fire at the machines. Sheppard smiled at the thought of what depleted uranium rounds would do to those machines out there. With a crash, the nose of the first digger broke the surface of the domed top of the city. The APU Corps moved quickly into their places as the rest of the dock area came to alert and all the running around and last minute readying stopped. It still took a few minutes for the digging machine to spin itself the rest of the way through the hole. As it fell and landed on the area between ships' docks, everyone's guns pointed skyward at the ready for the machines that were coming. The second digger had only just broken the surface on the second hole, so it would probably be a full minute before the second digger fell from its hole and Sheppard would push the activation button to engage the shield.

"First round will be APU Corps only," Sheppard called out, as everyone already knew. "Anything that gets past the APUs is free game. This isn't a free for all yet, though, people." The first wave of Sentinels could be heard coming down the first tunnel. It was a strange sound, almost like the buzzing of a large metal hive of angry bees.

"Open fire," Captain Mufuni yelled, as the large machines all began to answer the angry machine sounds with an angry hornets' nest of their own that would not soon be forgotten. The rounds pouring from the cannons of the APU Corps caught the machines by surprise as they tore the first wave of Sentinels apart. The first few rounds actually bounced inside the chamber once they hit the hole before the first few Sentinels had made it out of the tunnel. Even with the dense armor of the Sentinels, the depleted uranium rounds simply cut through them like warm butter and bounced further up into the chamber. Some of the bullets killed as many as three or four Sentinels before they ran out of energy and gravity brought them back through the hole and onto the Docks along with the wreckage of the dead Sentinels. This proved a problem for the humans because the round going into the tunnel caused so much damage that the wreckage of the dead Sentinels acted as a sort of shield for the second wave of Sentinels coming out of the tunnel. As the second wave emerged from the tunnel, the second digger fell from the ceiling. Unfortunately for one of the APUs, it fell onto the landing pad the APU had been standing on. The Diggers themselves were easily five stories tall and around fifty feet wide. Its shear girth and weight simply destroyed the landing pad it hit as it fell from the ceiling and then jammed slightly into the docking pad. With a large thud, it fell over and broke the pad in half, throwing the APU that had been standing on the pad into the air as if it had been shot from a catapult. The crushing death of the APU operator was quick as his APU landed on the dock floor after falling front first into that same floor, crushing the operator under its weight. Sheppard saw this and as he pushed the shield activation button he knew that while that man was the first to die, he would definitely not be the last today.

While a few hundred Sentinels had made it into the Docks before the shield fell, they would only last a few seconds as the CIWS sprang to life, killing Sentinels with some of the scariest sounds that the Colonials and Thirteeners had ever heard. It was evident on their faces as they flinched at the sound of the Zippers filling the Docks with the death of the machines. The shields snapping up very quickly put a halt to the machine onslaught as the two holes both began to erupt with light as machines made contact with the shield and exploded from the energy impact. This noise lasted for thirty seconds while the first full wave of machines ran headlong to their deaths at the hand of Tauri energy shields.

"APU Corps, redirect fire. Destroy the diggers," Captain Mufuni ordered as he saw the last of the Sentinels in the Docks explode from Zipper fire. As the APUs began to pour their fire down at the two diggers, Sheppard watched with interest as they attempted to stand back up with their spindly tripod legs and their drill bits attempting to rotate in their opposite directions to free their noses from the concrete floor. The APU fire quickly disintegrated their legs, though, and began to tear at the openings between their drilling bits and tear into the inner workings of their machinery. They would not be lasting much longer and they would most definitely not be digging anymore.

"Shields down to 75%!" Sheppard announced to the commanders at the various levels of the city. Everyone knew that the shields would not last forever. Once they were down, the fight would begin in earnest. They had all hoped the machines would continue to bombard the shield with their Sentinels, staunching their advance and making their job much easier, but after the initial wave that did not appear to be the case. After several minutes of silence, all of the people on the Docks were shocked by a rather loud bang that came from the second tunnel. Immediately following the bang the shields began to flicker rather violently.

"Shields down to 20%. It looks like they just hit it with an EMP." Fortunately the Tauri shields were designed to absorb EMP waves, but it looked like this had been a big one. As the shields stopped flickering, the sound of Sentinels coming from both tunnels could be heard clearly.

"Everyone get ready," Sheppard warned of the impending onslaught that would surely deplete the shields the rest of the way. What came out of the caverns, however, was not the Sentinels they expected, but some sort of truncated version of diggers. They did their job as the combined mass of the two mini diggers hitting and essentially melting on the shields was enough to deplete them completely, which Sheppard found to his surprise meant that he would be showered with sparks as the breakers on the Naquada generator blew, causing him to dive for cover.

As the molten masses of the two mini diggers fell to the dock floor, killing several soldiers and Colonials, the first real wave of Sentinels came through the two caverns. They seemed to come through first like one large finger, reaching out to destroy everything below them. What they received upon entering the dock though was the combined fire of the APU and Zippers, along with all of the fire from the Tauri RTail guns that had been set up along with the heavy cannon fire of the Colonials and the missile fire from all three. The machines realized quickly that they would not be successful in single large formations and they started to break up into packs for as long as they could. Machines were dying by the hundreds every second as the guns did their deadly work. Sheppard stood stock still for a second as he watched all the machines moving in seemingly random patterns but clearly controlled by some central source.

"We have to destroy the city. Do we have the go ahead yet?" He asked Dr. Weir via radio, who was orbiting above with her fleet of ships ready to destroy Machine City from orbit. They were waiting on Daniel and Neo to sever the connection to the fields. They could not destroy the city without severing that connection. None of them wanted to be the cause of the deaths of two hundred million people.

XXXXXXXX

Matrix: Same Time

XXXXXXXX

"Ten seconds to go!" Trinity called as the last of their team made it into place. She wanted desperately to yell at Neo and Daniel for taking so long, but she also wanted to kiss Neo and hug him. She thought they were dead. As the ten seconds came to a close, Neo called out on the line "Execute!" With that, all of the teams emerged from their waiting places and fired their first shots into the waiting agents, who did not know they were coming. Daniel and Neo had been positioned at a main trunk station at the back of a subway station in the downtown area. It was familiar to Neo because he had fought Smith here once before. Now the station had become run down and looked as though it had been recently closed. As Daniel broke though the barrier at the front, he was not surprised to find that the area itself was clearly not out of use as several agents were waiting for them at the back of the platform. It was easy work for them, as they were all carrying large caliber assault rifles and, while the agents were waiting, they did not see them enter until after they had rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs and put two rounds through each of the five agents on the platform.

"We have to move quickly. They will be sending more agents with much bigger guns," Trinity said as they made their way to the back of the station. Neo found that the opening to the trunk lines was not hard to find. Surely they would have hidden this better, he thought to himself as he set the charges in front of the trunk lines that looked very much like overgrown power lines leading into a rather large power and breaker box hidden in a closet at the back of the station platform.

"You do not want to do that," a very familiar voice said from behind them as Neo finished setting the bomb and closed the door of the utility closet.

"Cam, get them out of here. I'll wait here and make sure this goes off."

"No, it'll kill you," Trinity cried with fear.

"No, he's right. It won't kill him though – it will only throw him out of the Matrix." Neo paused. "Once you are out, you can never come back in, Daniel. Isn't that what they said?" Neo asked as the realization set in that this would be Daniel's last time in the Matrix.

"That's fine. If we can complete this mission, the Matrix will not survive much longer. Now go; we only have thirty seconds left," he said as he looked at his watch and prepared himself to face the hundred or so Agent Smiths that he could see. "Go!" At that Cam grabbed the arms of Trinity and Morpheus and disappeared in a flash, delivering them to their exfil point and vanishing again to retrieve Neo.

"Hello Smith." Daniel smiled

"What are you trying to do?" Smith asked with genuine concern.

"We are going to destroy the Matrix."

"You would kill all of these people just to destroy us?" Smith observed with a smile, somewhat impressed at the determination of these Tauri. After he had absorbed the last of the Tauri's interrogators, he had a much better idea of who these people were, and of course absorbing the Merovingian didn't hurt either.

"If that is what needs to be done," Daniel affirmed as he prepared to defend himself from the horde of Smiths that looked more like three hundred and growing by the second now. His watch read thirteen seconds.

"You cannot destroy us by cutting that connection behind you." Smith smiled again, knowing many of Machine City's contingency plans and their likelihood of survival. Eight seconds now.

"We'll see about that." Daniel was trying to keep it short, because he had to keep Smith talking. He knew the second they started to fight he would not be able to keep the door behind him closed. He could fight several hundred agents at once but only one needed to reach the door behind him. Six seconds left. With Daniel's last comment the smile on the lead Smith turned to a frown as he realized that Daniel and his people must have bigger plans.

"What are the rest of your plans?" He inquired as he and a hundred other Smiths began to advance on Daniel, who did nothing to stop them. Three seconds. As realization set in that something else was going on, the Smiths that were not advancing placed their hands on their ears and started to listen for other Red Pills in the city while they turned to leave the tunnel. Two seconds. The Smiths knew they had to stop whatever this was. Unfortunately for them this was when Daniel threw out the only thing he had that would be useful. With a wave of thought and will Daniel threw a barrier out and around all of the Smiths that were around the station, much like the box where he had placed the first Smith he'd met, only much larger. That was all he needed as the last second elapsed and his bomb detonated, killing himself and all of the agents in the station.

Neo and all of his team sighed as they heard the first explosion come from their assigned site, and the many others that followed seconds after. They were sad that they had lost a valuable ally in their fight against the Matrix. Trinity was the first to pick up her phone and disappear from the Matrix as Neo watched power go out all over the city. Right now the machines in Machine City should be in panic mode as their power lines within the Matrix and soon from space were being destroyed. They would not last much longer. With that thought, the rest of his team exited the Matrix back into the real world where Daniel was waiting for them.

XXXXXXXX

_Odyssey_: Orbit of Thirteeners' Planet

XXXXXXXX

"We're all out. The Matrix lines have been cut. You have a go," Colonel Mitchell's voice came clearly over the audio system of the bridge aboard the _Odyssey_, where they had been waiting nearly twenty minutes for that call.

"Fleet, you are go for initial targets. Prepare for second round and main target," Weir instructed as the mass cannons on all of the Enterprise-class ship in orbit began to warm up and glow with energy.

"Firing in twenty seconds," the ops officer noted from his console as he monitored the _Enterprise_ and her classmates. Several great balls of light illuminated the area around them in orbit and quickly made their way towards the surface and their individual destinations. The clouds again parted to allow for a short view of the surface below. Within seconds though, great flashes of light could be seen through the clouds that had re-enveloped the weapons fire. The clouds themselves became much darker as the city that had given the clouds a grey hue now slunk inward and became a dismal black as the massive city lost all of its power.

"Whatever you're doing, it's working. All of the machines have paused in here," Weir heard Sheppard say over the open line.

"Ma'am, it appears they are attempting to activate secondary lines," the ops officer shouted.

"Inform the drone operators on the _Enterprise_ and Auroras they are to destroy any secondary lines they can find." In response, drones all over the fleet sprang to life and began to rain on the planet like fireflies lighting up a dark night. "Ready the Mark IX. I want it deployed in two minutes," Weir ordered as she swiveled in her fleet command chair and watched the Colonial ships getting themselves into position to make combat landings on the planet so they could secure the fields and set up hospitals for the Thirteeners coming out of the fields. "_Normandy_, you are cleared to secure the secondary sight."

"Confirmed. We are bringing down our first wave of cavalry now," Commodore Missen replied as he sent his first wave of men and material to secure the secondary machine site for the machines that had agreed to help keep the fields running while they rescued the people. It had been a hard compromise to make, but with so many people to save they had to figure out some way to do this. The secondary site was essentially a second small city on the opposite side of the main continent from the fields and Machine City, which dominated the continent.

"Mark IX is ready and in place," the ops officer announced.

"Detonate." The sky that only a second ago had been a dark black below them now split apart as a great light exploded out from the surface blinding, two people who had been looking out the windows despite orders to the contrary. "Scan for any surviving machines."

"Ma'am, we need a few minutes for the clouds to dissipate." Weir glared at the ops officer. The back of his head did not notice.

On the planet's surface the first of the machines that survived the blast pushed its head out from the pile of rubble that had been its place of work. As a research robot, it had two arms and two legs like most humans. Because of this it was able to move debris out of its way so that it could free itself. It did not understand what had happened; one moment it had been working on studying the Ancient device they had found along with the ring the humans had come through. The next moment there was the largest boom it had ever registered as its building fell down along with all the rest of the city. It was surprised to find there were flying things of some sort circling the city. They were flying things it had never seen before. They looked like small flying arrows, and it did not think twice as two of them flew towards it. The loud noise that came from each of them as they approached was never heard as bullets ended its short survival attempt.

"_Galactica_, this is Racetrack."

"_Galactica_ Actual. What do you see?"

"We have encountered scattered machine life on the bomb site. Nothing of any significance. It does appear the Tauri bomb has somehow worked to clear the clouds from the sky here."

"We will pass it along. Thanks for the good news. Continue to patrol and destroy any survivors."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Zion

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sir, they're not ready yet. The Matrix teams aren't done yet."

"What is taking them so long? It needs to happen now," Sheppard all but shouted over the din of the guns firing around the Docks.

"I will let you know as soon as we have an ETA." Sheppard did not hear him as another wave of Sentinels had come through the second hole and seemed to be looking for one of the diggers. They were circling low underneath the landing pads of the dock area as though the diggers should have been lying on the floor waiting to be helped back up. Unfortunately for them, both of the diggers had already been dispatched with several missiles and a few well placed thermite charges that reduced them to large molten masses. While the CIWs and the rail guns were taking their toll on the Sentinels, it was pretty clear the Sentinels seemed to be getting ready for some bigger move as they seemed to continue to circle the dock, sinking down in a large group every few minutes to strike at different teams of men firing up at them or one of the Zippers. They were taking their toll. "Bring out the rest of the APU Corps," Sheppard called as Captain Mufuni called the rest of his men into the battle. Within moments another thirty large APUs had entered the dock area from the adjoining tunnels and joined the fight. For a few minutes at least they stemmed the tide of Sentinels that were continuing to swirl around the top of the Docks as more and more Sentinels poured out of the two holes in the roof. "We need those Vipers in the shaft above us now!" Sheppard tried to reach the _Galactica_ and the ships in orbit that had sortied their Vipers to join the fight. Most of the planes were waiting in orbit for the Tauri ships to drop their Mark IXs on Machine City and hit the area defenses.

"Zion this is _Galactica_ Actual. The Vipers are two minutes out. Tauri ships are thirty seconds from detonation." Sheppard smiled at that. He couldn't wait to see what these machines did when their city ceased to exist. He knew so little about the machines, he did not know if they could still function without their city and their power sources.

"Commander Lock, we need to hold for another two minutes before the Vip…." Sheppard started but did not finish, as the entire planet seemed to shudder at the Mark IXs explosion on the surface four miles above them. It was amazing to watch the Sentinels as they seemed to stop mid air for a minute realizing that something was dreadfully wrong and they were looking for new information. The defenders did not let the moment of hesitation go to waste as all of the APU, infantry, and CIW operators zeroed in on groups of Sentinels and exacted their revenge. While it seemed obvious that there were to many machines to count inside the Docks, it was becoming obvious that the weapons they brought to bear were making a difference. Within moments the Sentinels began to move again, although this time it was with much less coordination as they stopped moving in the large masses that were destroying defenders at will. Sheppard was glad for this because already he had lost a lot of soldiers. The Sentinels had destroyed nearly a third of the rail gun emplacements and the teams that were operating them.

"Vipers thirty seconds out."

Vipers: Warhammer Flight

Racetrack and his flight rounded the last corner of the tunnel, looking for the opening that the Sentinels were using to get to Zion. Amidst all of the piping and enormous amounts of detritus, the Sentinels could be plainly seen milling about not but a few miles ahead of them in the tunnel. Within seconds they would be on top of them and ready to fire.

"Ready cannons, and slow down, people. Once we fire, I want to race by them and turn as we do so we can fire down those holes. Once we make our first pass, the second flight behind us will drop incendiary bombs down those holes," Racetrack instructed as he thumbed the selector switch on his joystick to guns. It was with pleasure that all five Vipers in his flight began to fire on the massed group of Sentinels, who immediately began to scatter as the bullets from their guns connected with the first twenty or so Sentinels, who fell to the ground, shredded by the larger-than-normal rounds. The Sentinels knew the Thirteeners' rounds could penetrate their hulls, but these new foes carried bullets that tore apart their thin armor and went right through to destroy whatever was behind them. Because of these better-penetrating bullets, the Vipers found they were able to scatter the Sentinels more quickly than they had originally thought. Within thirty seconds they had finished their gun run and were floating stationary above the two holes, pouring the last of their cannon fire down into the last Sentinels trying to escape back the way they had come, now realizing they simply had no way to avoid the bullets that were raining down on them from behind.

"Warhammer flight, move out. We'll patrol with our missiles from the far side of the tunnel." Racetrack engaged his thrusters and moved himself off the tops of the holes to make space for the second flight that was coming in directly behind them.

"Dropping now," another voice called out as the second flight released their missiles, which quickly disappeared down the holes and within seconds could clearly be seen exploding when both the holes erupted with flames of blue and green as a result of the plasma and napalm mixtures meant to not only destroy but also burn anything it came in contact with. The scale of the destruction for the Sentinels was staggering. It was quickly becoming obvious the remnant could not form up to attack the ten planes chasing them through the tunnel, firing bullets and missiles at them. Clearly, not having a city with centralized control to give them all directions had taken its toll.

"Zion, we must return to rearm and refuel. You have two more flights one minute out. Good luck."

Docks

"Warhammer flight is thirty seconds out!" _Galactica_ informed Sheppard and his defenders.

"Lock, you need to get all your people out of the crane complex. Now!" Sheppard yelled as he watched all of the Sentinels turn and streak toward the crane area. It seemed they had figured out how to coordinate again.

"We must hold the Docks!" Lock yelled back as he and his people flowed out of the crane, protected by the electric guns of the Infantry Corps supporting the APU Corps with its reloads of bullets. Sheppard watched from his command station that he had wisely moved to one of the alcoves like the ones that the APUs had come from before. Fortunately, the Sentinels had not really noticed the force field covering the entrance, or they might not have been in command for much longer. He watched with some horror as the crane complex disintegrated beneath the onslaught of several hundred thousand Sentinels streaming like a wave across the large structure, each taking a chunk of armor or frame. Within thirty seconds the crane complex was no more.

"We have to use the DEMP guns."

"No. Not yet. We need to save them for the second line of defense," Lock pleaded, even though he thought he probably couldn't convince Sheppard of his choice.

"Major Young, bring your Rangers up. I want those DEMP guns up here in two minutes." Sheppard smiled as he thought of the test they had done with these new weapons. The ones they had today were beta models, but someone back home had a wicked sense of humor. Though the guns were fairly simple and looked much like an average assault rifle, they were different in that instead of the normal cylindrical barrel, they had a sort of cone with gold-plated wiring wrapped tightly around the barrel. The weapon itself had replacement cartridges, much like a normal rifle would have a magazine, but these had plasma cartridges it used to fire the EMPs instead of bullets.

"We are thirty seconds away. Where do you want us?"

"I want teams of three at each of the cardinal directions. No one shoots horizontally. I don't want us inadvertently striking one of our own," he said, noticing the first team come out of the hatchway. Within seconds the first team had emerged from their hole and readied themselves to fire their new weapon. With a strange bluish blast of fire, the weapons exposed a rather large mass of Sentinels that had reformed into their group shape. The group itself quickly drooped, lifeless, and after a few seconds they dropped to the ground, circuitry destroyed by the EMP. Though happy with the success, Sheppard was surprised to find the machines had changed direction. He also noticed more dead Sentinels had started to fall out of the two holes above everyone's heads.

"Second flight is one minute out," he heard the lead pilot call over the radio. He realized he was beginning to think positively about this fight. He found it somewhat startling, though, when the second flight apparently hit their spot early. He heard the pilots call out their release and watched as more machines tried to get through the holes in the roof and into the city, only to be chased down by amazingly bright jets of flame that instantly melted the machines closest to the holes, further reducing their numbers. It would not be much longer now before they had completely defeated the Sentinel army. With the holes now essentially plugged with the Vipers at the other end to keep anything else out, Sheppard and all of his men got to work. It was hard work for the next hour or so as they mopped up the last of the Sentinels in the city. After one last effort, the machines left in the city were preparing to mass again when drones started streaming though the holes above the Docks. The drones made quick work of the leftover Sentinels, as each drone could tear through four or five of them before it was depleted.

"Colonel, we have the city up and she is operational." Sheppard heard a voice he did not recognize immediately.

"Thanks for the help. Move yourself into a stable position so you can take on wounded." After more than three hours of fighting, it seemed as though they had finally defeated the last of the Sentinel army. Even though the last Sentinel was dead, everyone was still searching for another target. There were none.

"It looks like we did it!" Everyone started to cheer. The Docks shook with the force of their celebration.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Zion: One Month after Victory

XXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a hard job, but Neo was fairly convinced they had finished. "I think that last load was the end of it. Let's get out of here," he said a little sadly. Looking up the shaft from the archive room just above the engineering levels, the city of Zion really was amazing. From beneath the walkways and gangways that crisscrossed the city as it reached upward toward the surface, he was reminded of how desperate they had once been and how free they now were. He smiled at Trinity, who was standing next to him.

"It's strange to think I'll miss this place. I made this place my home for many years. Did you know I was twelve when I cracked the IRS database?" Neo shook his head no and reached an arm around her. "That was the act that brought Morpheus to me." After that, they didn't speak for a bit. Quietly they walked up the many flights of stairs, then took an elevator the final fifty stories to the Docks where one last puddle jumper was waiting for them.

"Cam, thank you for waiting for us." Neo smiled as he and Trinity turned the corner and walked up the ramp into the jumper.

"It's a funny name you have for these ships." Trinity recalled the story of how they had come up with the name. She thought these Tauri were a funny people.

"I am fairly happy with the name, and you're welcome. Have your people decided yet if you're going to stay here?" He asked. For the two weeks since the end of the war, the Thirteeners had been debating what they would do next. The Colonies had of course offered for them to join the other twelve, and the Tauri had offered to help them settle on a new world of their own choosing. No one outside the Thirteeners had any idea what they would choose.

"They have not yet decided. We have a lot of work ahead of us, though, with all of the people who are still stuck in the Matrix," Neo said as the back door to the jumper closed and Cam began the process of lifting the jumper off of the dock. They all watched quietly out the front window as this could possibly be the last time humans set foot inside of Zion. Passing over the hulking remains of several APUs lying derelict on the dock floor, Neo was reminded of how many people gave their lives to free him and his people. "For now, we will fill our floating city with the people we rescue. From there I think we will probably forge our own way." Neo and Trinity both smiled and continued watched out the front window as the jumper cleared the last of the tunnel system and lit into the now blue sky. Apparently the large explosion had been the final thing to move back the clouds that had encircled the planet for more than a hundred years. In the distance they could clearly see the central spire of their both old and new home. They still had a lot of work to do.


	11. Chapter 11: Close to open

**Chapter 11**

It was a quiet morning in the New Lantea System. Floating through space on the edge of the system, the early warning and defense satellites noticed the purple swirling cloud beginning to appear. The subspace tear silently released a new ship from within, then quickly closed and disappeared from sight, leaving the space at the edge of the system quiet. The ship that exited hyperspace was new, and her sleek lines did much to hide the awesome power that she now controlled.

"New Lantea, this is _Galactica_ Actual. Requesting clearance to enter the system and take orbit around New Lantea." Admiral Adama said from his CIC. The new ship was a nice one. She still wasn't the old girl he had just finished decommissioning, but even with all of the new gadgets on board she still felt like a Colonial ship. Now that they had formalized relations with the Tauri and exchanged some technology, the _Galactica_ class was the first fruits of that relationship. She had a new hyperdrive, as well as basic shielding technology. Apparently the Colonies already had a working design; they just lacked the power to run it. That all changed when they got their first look at the Naquada reactors the Tauri used. It turned out the power systems were all they really needed to jump-start all of their new systems and their technological advancement. Adama was also surprised to find that their heavy gun technology could be improved upon. While he still didn't totally understand the heavier beam technologies that the Tauri used, they could easily adapt their rail gun and plasma technologies. It amazed him how much the Tauri were willing to share. He still found it hard to believe there had not been more backlash within the Colonies regarding these unbelievers. Part of that could be explained by the rather large display of power they displayed in saving the Colonies from the Cylons. Without them, the war could have been disastrous. Quietly, to himself, Adama hoped the good feelings would last.

"G_alactica_ Actual, this is New Lantea control. You are cleared to enter and maintain orbit. Dr. Weir has been informed of your arrival and will be awaiting your delegation." Adama often recalled how he'd come to ally his people with the Tauri. Already it had been a year since he had met Dr. Weir and General O'Neill. It had been a hard year for him, all of the fighting early on and then all of the aid work to help the Thirteenth Colony recover from their enslavement.

"Understood. _Galactica_ out," he said, and then placed the microphone back on its holder. "Move us in and put us in orbit of New Lantea. Set the Cap on standby. We don't need them out in this system."

"This is a great new ship, Sir. Power plant still reading full power," Tigh remarked as he read the information from his station. The door to the CIC opened and in stepped the president of the Twelve Colonies.

"Good morning, Admiral," the president greeted him, strolling into the CIC from the new officers' mess two decks below.

"Good morning, Mr. President. We've just entered the New Lantea System."

"This new propulsion system seems wonderful. I actually slept during the trip - some of the best rest I've had in a long time. We never could have done that with our old jump drives."

"Yes, Mr. President, that is definitely a good thing about these upgrades. Personally, I am anxious to try our new shielding systems. I know they aren't as powerful as the ones the Tauri use, but they should still be substantial."

"Let's hope that is not today though," Adar cautioned as he looked around the room. "It is a beautiful ship, isn't it?"

"Yes, Sir!" At that, Adar stepped away from the plot table at the center of the room and sat down in the command chair. The command chair was new to the Galactica-class ship.

"We'll be in orbit in ten minutes, Mr. President," Mr. Gaeta announced as the new _Galactica_ passed the gas giant that dominated the system.

New Lantea had become a hive of activity over the last year as new ships were built and the four city ships sat in orbit, producing things for the war effort. In addition to the four city ships in orbit, the Colonial corporations that had come to construct the new orbital shipyard were nearly done. With the Thirteeners having also moved onto the planet after evacuating Zion, the planet itself had begun a significant population increase. Fortunately, because of all of the new production going on, most of the people from the Thirteenth Colony had jobs ready for them with their new brothers, the Tauri, and their old brothers of the Twelve Colonies. In some ways the situation could not have been better for them. Already their presence had paid large dividends, as more than two dozen Tauri ships circled the planet and another dozen had left orbit on their way back to the Milky Way galaxy for service there. With the new treaty that they would sign today, it was also quite possible that those same Colonial corporations would be making a trip to the Milky Way to build shipyards there as well. Today's treaty signing would very likely solidify the Colonies as a true power in this galaxy, something Adar most definitely wanted his name attached to. Unfortunately Adar also understood that being a power figure meant they would have to expose themselves to danger, and that meant the Wraith. Only those members of their now three-month-old Colonial Star Gate Teams had had any experience with them, and they did not tell any fun stories. At least when they fought the Cylons, nobody got eaten.

"Admiral, we are now in orbit," Mr. Gaeta called out as the _Galactica_ pulled herself into a parking obit along with all of the other orbiting ships.

"Mr. President, these people need a proper space station," Adama said as they both left the CIC, closely followed by the president's staff and Colonel Tigh. Very soon they would be sitting inside one of the Colonial Jumpers. The first two had been a gift from the Tauri, but all of the ones to come would be from their own city ships, which they would take possession of after this treaty was signed. While the Colonies could conceivably lay claim to everything that was on Kobol, they knew enough to understand that the Tauri also had some claim and could very easily take what they wanted.

"You'll have to talk to them about those space stations," Adar joked as they all stepped inside their Colonial Jumper and began their trip down into the atmosphere.

-New Lantea-

Dr. Weir thought about the last year as she waited in the new planet administration building. She was currently sitting on the stage of the auditorium waiting for the delegations from the Colonials, Thirteeners, and Travelers to arrive so they could formally sign their treaty. In the last year, she had worked very hard to bring all four of their peoples together to make this alliance. She of all people understood how difficult it could be to get different peoples together, even when they all agreed and understood each other. In spite of all that, today they would sign a formal treaty with the Colonial people.

"Dr. Weir, if you're ready, the delegations are arriving. The Colonials just entered orbit and the Travelers should be ringing down shortly," General O'Neill said

General O'Neill had just finished taking a tour of the Thirteeners' new city. Apparently some of the people from the Thirteenth Colony had decided to stay permanently on New Lantea. After his tour, he strolled into the hall looking for Dr. Weir. Once he heard the Colonials had entered the system, he knew it was time to get things ready. The Travelers had been in orbit for a few days working out the last little bits of their part of the treaty. Colonel Sheppard had been seeing to them most of the time they had been here. Sheppard's relationship with Larrin, their leader, made him the perfect person for that job.

"I am still pretty amazed that you were able to get this done. You did a great job, Elizabeth," O'Neill said, smiling as she walked down the hall towards him.

"Thanks, Jack. I didn't do it by myself, though." Jack turned around to face the door he had just come out of as she strode up beside him. As they both walked out of the hall together, they could clearly see the new Colonial Puddle Jumpers coming through the clouds on their way to meet them, not far from the hall they had just left. Jack and Elizabeth were on their way to the Gate Room and the people coming from Earth. "I hear we might have some surprise company." Elizabeth smiled as she said this to Jack, who gave her a quizzical look.

"Who could be a surprise guest on a day like this? We know the President of the United States is coming as well as the head of the U.N. And all of his people."

They entered the building as Jack finished his sentence and could clearly hear the alarms blaring and the Gate Tech calling over the intercom, "Unscheduled off-world activation." Elizabeth jumped in, reaching over to the wall and pressing the intercom button.

"Belay that. I did not get time to put them on the schedule, but this is a scheduled visit." Jack was very curious now, as it was highly unusual she would miss something like that.

Jack and Elizabeth stepped quickly into the Gate Room as the vortex was just finishing flashing out and then stabilizing.

"Receiving proper IDC codes; opening iris now," the Gate Tech announced as the first of the large party emerged from the event horizon.

"Dr. Beckett, it is good to see you," Elizabeth said warmly as he stepped off the platform and turned around to wait for the rest of the party.

"Who is with you?" Jack asked as the two men shook hands.

"I think you'll be happy to see a friend of yours…." As he said this, the next two people came through the Gate. The first person through the Gate was another doctor Jack didn't recognize, but the person next to him simply took Jack's breath away. He was less brown and slightly taller than Jack remembered but the eyes and head shape were unmistakable.

"Thor? How?" Jack was beyond surprised and a little suspicious as he looked back at Elizabeth

"O'Neill, it is me. It is good to see you," Thor said, stepping up to Jack, who was obviously still in shock. They embraced in a short and very rare show of affection. The Asgard never did show much emotion.

"It's great to see you, old buddy," Jack said excitedly.

"As I am sure you are aware, when the Asgard gave us the Asgard core and blew up their home world, they implanted the consciousnesses of many of their people within that core. What you don't know is that the Cylons' reproduction technology we recovered last year turned out to be useful for our research teams." Dr. Weir stopped to let Thor finish the short story.

"It turned out the nanites that kept their bodies working properly could also be used to adjust their genetic structure to accommodate our minds. That is how they resurrected me. And once they were done, we irradiated the nanites and we now have new bodies that can reproduce. The Asgard are returning." He did his best to smile, as much as an Asgard could smile.

"That is unbelievable. How many of your people will survive?"

"Unknown yet, but there were several thousand of us inside the Asgard core," Thor said as Odin and Mjolnir came through the Gate, which closed behind them.

"We need to move on...the ceremony starts in twenty minutes and we still have to greet the Thirteeners and the Colonials." As Elizabeth finished her statement, the Gate again began to spin as the Thirteeners dialed in from their new home world. The wormhole quickly formed and stabilized, with the iris opening a few seconds later. As Jack and Thor continued to talk quietly, the first of the Thirteeners stepped through the Gate. It looked like the entire council - Commander Locke and the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar was coming for the ceremony.

"It is good to see you, General," Commander Locke said, approaching the general and the small receiving line that had formed.

"And you, Commander. These are my friends Thor, Mjolnir, and Freyr. They're Asgard. Dr. Weir, you've already met." Jack made introductions as Commander Locke moved further down the line shaking hands warily with Thor, who spoke softly to the commander. The line progressed quickly with all of the Thirteeners unsure what to make of the Asgard. None of them had ever seen someone not of human origin. After the greetings were done the entire group made its way back to the hall where the ceremony would take place.

Dr. Weir and General O'Neill slipped out of the group and made their way to the landing area, where the Colonials had just landed, which had been cleared for the event. Leaving the first craft, President Adar and his security detail moved toward the hall as well, after being briefly greeted by the general and Dr. Weir. The second craft also opened as the president and his detail trailed off into the ceremony hall.

"Admiral Adama - it is good to see you." The general and the admiral shook hands as he stepped up to be greeted. Jack and William had become friends over the last year while they worked together to unlock some of what Kobol had to offer and other related things. Having both lost children and both fought in some nasty situations, they had a lot they could share and in some ways they could share things with each other they couldn't with others. It was a rare situation for Jack, who did not often have the kind of relationships where he felt free to share his thoughts and emotions.

"I have some old friends who are going to want to meet you and your people. They'll also want to thank you," Elizabeth said as she shook hands with the admiral.

"Do you remember me talking about my friend Thor?" Jack asked as they all began the walk to the ceremony hall.

"I do, but didn't you tell me all the Asgard were gone? Genetic degradation or something…." As the Admiral said this, he realized how they might have been helped. "Did you use the Cylon resurrection tech?"

"Apparently we did."

"That could be a problem," Adama said a little worriedly.

"It shouldn't be. We irradiated the nanites so there's no Cylon technology in their bodies at all," Dr. Weir explained. "You will get to meet them shortly." She finished as they reached the entrance to the ceremony hall.

The last to arrive was the Earth delegation with the U.N. resident and the president of the United States. The U.S. president would be giving a short speech, along with President Adar and Morpheus. Larrin from the Travelers was not really a speech type, so she opted out. Opportunities like these were ones that Jack did nearly anything to miss, so when a call came from the CIC, he was more than happy to answer it.

"This is General O'Neill. What do you have to report?" He spoke softly into the telephone that was in the back room of the meeting hall, where the festivities had just begun.

"Sir we have a contact on the outer edge of the system. We believe it is Cylon." Jack's interest piqued at that, and he let the officer of the watch know he was on the way. With so many dignitaries on the planet, he couldn't afford any dangers to go unchallenged, especially not today. Hanging up the phone, he quickly crossed the area between the meeting hall and the CIC. Once there, Jack stopped to look at the situation board at the center of the room, where they coordinated all in-system defenses. The sensor data was collected for everything from foes to friends, and even space dust was collected together and displayed on this board.

"Sir, the contact is still in the outer comet shield of the system. I think they believe they are hiding from us."

"Why's that, Major?"

"Because, Sir, they're sitting in the asteroid field and not moving. They seem to have most of their power systems wound down in order to be harder to find. The _Ajax_ is approaching under cloak." He pointed to the glowing green dot that was approaching the red dot on the map. "Sir, preliminary data is coming in. It's definitely Cylon, but it looks different from anything we've seen before."

"How so?"

"Well, Sir, it looks like they have some new form of reactor; even powered down it looks stronger than their older systems."

"That's definitely concerning. Get me the captain of the _Ajax_." Jack was growing worried. He knew he should probably get General Caldwell and Dr. Weir for this, but they were both in the ceremony and someone from this galaxy should be involved in the treaty signing. Besides, he knew what he was doing.

"This is the _Ajax_." The voice came over the comm line.

"I have an emergency order for you. I want you to remain cloaked and follow that ship. We need to know where they came from and who's there. I'll have a ship relieve you in two days. In the meantime I have something else planned. Sit tight." Jack closed the line with the _Ajax_ and motioned for the officer of the watch to put the captain of the _Kronos_ on the line next. "Captain, I need you to proceed to the unknown contact at the edge of the system. Once there I need you to challenge him…."

-Edge of New Lantean System-

"Sir, we are approaching the unknown contact. It appears there are actually three vessels here, Sir," the tech said as the three smallish ships came on the front viewer. They were well hidden in the field of asteroids on the edge of the system, sitting in a rough triangle formation in order to provide cover fire for each other.

"Are the other ships powered down as well?" The captain asked. They floated not but a few hundred kilometers away from the three unknowns. Fortunately, they had engaged their cloak while still in orbit of New Lantea so being detected was not an issue. They observed for several more minutes, waiting to see if the unknown ships would do anything of interest, but after ten minutes they had not.

"Bring our shields up and disengage the cloak. I want an active scan of those ships." At his order, the _Kronos_ revealed herself to the three intruders and actively scanned all three ships. The three ships immediately powered themselves and darted out of the asteroid field, staying in their same tight formation. "Helm, keep us in front of them, open a channel."

As the _Kronos_ backpedaled, the comms officer called out that the channel was open

"Unidentified ships, you are in restricted space without authorization. What are your intentions?"

"Sir, they're attempting to access our computer systems. They're definitely Cylon," the comms officer said as he moved to block the intrusion.

"Save any of their intrusion software that you can. I would like to have that as evidence if possible. And reopen the channel." He waited a second until the comms officer let him know the channel was again open. "Unidentified ships, we will not allow you to access our systems. That was an act of aggression and while I will forgive this one act I cannot allow any more acts of aggression without a response in kind." As the captain spoke, the lead ship began to power its weapons systems while the two ships behind it winked out of existence.

"Sir, ships two and three have engaged a Cylon-style jump drive. Tracking them eight light years out." Before the captain could respond, the lead ship fired its first weapon at the _Kronos_. A very narrow orange beam of light erupted from the front of the lone Cylon ship and lightly touched the forward shield of the Kronos. The beam did no damage to the _Kronos_ or her shields, but it was still a bit of a shock to the crew, since they knew the Cylons were not supposed to be this advanced.

"Return fire, front rail guns only. Let's incapacitate, not destroy," the captain said. In response, the forward rail guns began to spew their first trinium-depleted uranium rounds, which bounced harmlessly off of the Cylons glowing blue shields. Everyone on the bridge stared in surprise. This was a real problem. "Weapons, fire up the beam cannons. Two shots at eighty percent power. Let's break that shield." The captain seemed now visibly upset and the weapons officer called out that they were ready to fire. "Target their shields only. Fire." With that, two blue beams of energy shot from the _Kronos_, slamming into the shields of the small ship, which simply glowed an almost electric blue and crackled. "Good, maybe now they will listen. Open the chan…." The captain stopped midsentence as the last ship disappeared from existence, following its two brothers.

"Sir, we are tracking the first ship now, eight light years out." After a few quiet curses, the captain gave the order to contact command back at Fort Point. General O'Neill's voice came over loudly through the bridge.

"_Kronos,_ do not pursue. I want you to make a full scan of the entire comet shield, we have to know whether there are more of those ships waiting around." As the _Kronos_ moved off to begin that scan, the captain and the bridge crew could clearly watch the hyperspace window open and the _Ajax_ de-cloak and disappear into the window on her way to track this new threat. At least, that's what the captain assumed as he smiled and thought about how tricky General O'Neill could be sometimes.

-Void between Star Systems-

The _Ajax_ had only been in hyperspace for a few moments before she had to exit out into normal space on her way to track the three Cylon ships. They were all surprised when they found they had opened their exit window much closer to the Cylons than they had anticipated. What greeted them, though, was even more shocking as all three ships fired their beam weapons at the _Ajax_ before she could raise her shields. The bridge rocked violently as the six beams struck the _Ajax_. It took a few moments before the captain and bridge crew could regain their seats.

"Captain, shields are now up. But they are only at fifty percent."

"Damage report!" The captain called out, still feeling his head where he had knocked it against the wall and then floor. He often wondered why there were no seatbelts on starships.

"Sir, weapons are offline and hyperdrive is down. No report on injured yet." The captain was not surprised at that but wanted to know how the three Cylon ships had been able to surprise them so easily. "Sir, the lead ship is hailing us." The comms officer opened the channel on their end. He was startled along with the rest of the bridge crew as the front view screen sprang to life revealing a beautiful, tall blond woman who had to be a model Six. What surprised them all the most, though, was the fact that she was wearing a Genii uniform.

"Captain of the _Ajax_, I am Carrice, leader of the Genii. What you have done could be seen as an act of war, which is why we responded in the way we did. We will not attack you again as a sign of our lack of hostile intentions. Let it be known that we do not wish relations with the Tauri or any of your allies." With her statement finished, she shut off the connection and all of the bridge crew watched as the three Cylon/Genii ships opened a hyperspace window and disappeared inside it. The captain broke the dumbfounded silence with a question to his XO.

"Did you place the locator beacon?"

"Yes, Sir." The XO smiled as he answered his new captain in the affirmative and continued smiling as he thought about his time with the Genii and how their new leadership had secured his current position for him.

-New Lantea: Six Hours Later-

It was quite a scene inside the CIC. For the last two hours, the captains of the _Ajax_ and _Kronos_ had been briefing the Traveler and Tauri leadership on the situation that had transpired earlier. General O'Neill did not want to bring in the Colonials just yet. Somehow these Cylons were involved with the Genii and Jack needed to know how they were intertwined and jack knew that if the colonials were involved the fate of the genii wouldn't mean much to them.

They did not know what to make of it all. Jack new more would come from this but he knew he did not have all of the pieces of the puzzle on this one. He would have to leave this one to General Caldwell because he had other business to attend to.

-_Enterprise_-

"Hello, O'Neill. It is good to see you again," Thor said as Jack appeared. He gave the slimmest of smiles to his friend, who looked surprised at Thor's new facial ability.

"I see your new bodies are agreeing with you. I don't think I have ever seen you smile."

"We used to smile a great deal, before our bodies began to deteriorate. Once that happened, we lost the ability. I would have smiled for you many times before this if I could have." Jack returned the smile.

"Do you like the ship?" He asked when he noticed Thor looking around the bridge and motioned for Thor to follow him to the ring room.

"This is a beautiful ship. I am pleased that you were finally able to use the name you always wanted to for a ship. I believe our next line of ships would have been Enterprise class if my people had survived to make them." Thor stopped at the thought of his people, lost now. The smile abruptly left his face.

"Didn't they tell you there were more Asgard inside that computer core?" Jack asked, genuinely surprised. Thor turned around at Jack's statement. They were already in the ring room and were in the process of navigating through the supplies.

"What do you mean?" Thor asked, himself looking surprised. Jack couldn't get over how strange it was to see facial expressions on his friend's face.

"Major, activate the rings, bring our friends on board," Jack called to the ring control booth as he stood quietly next to Thor, who was probably getting annoyed with Jack for his non-answer. Within moments, the rings activated and Thor and Jack watched as the large set of rings floated up from the floor and deposited more than five hundred Asgard onboard the _Enterprise_. "Welcome to the _Enterprise_," he greeted them. Thor seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Thank you, O'Neill," Thor said quietly as he stepped in among his people. After a few moments Jack cleared his throat and asked in nicest possible voice.

"Could everyone move out of this room into the adjacent room? We have more people coming aboard and we need this space cleared. We have people waiting in the other room to assign quarters and give you any information you might need," Jack instructed as he and a dozen or so enlisted men and women helped the Asgard make their way to the next room. Thor approached Jack.

"We will never be able to repay you for this, O'Neill." Jack stopped him short.

"Don't start yet, you still have another two loads of friends to greet. They sent a little over fifteen hundred Asgard through the Gate today." Thor was speechless. "Why don't you greet the rest of your people and meet me back on the bridge in two hours? We should be ready to depart then." Thor nodded in agreement and began to walk away, but turned around abruptly to ask one more question.

"Where are we going?" He wanted to ask more but Jack held up a finger.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise. Meet me on the bridge in two hours." With that, he left the room for Thor to talk to his fellow Asgard.

-Two Hours Later: _Enterprise_ Bridge-

Jack was sitting quietly in the command chair of the _Enterprise_. He had cleared all of the safety systems in orbit and the ship had just left New Lantea.

"Is the ZPM installed, Captain?" Jack asked of the captain who was sitting in the XO's chair behind him.

"Yes, General. It is installed and the ship is functioning at peak efficiency."

"Excellent, Commodore Missen. Do you know why I have given you this mission?" Jack asked as Thor came onto the bridge.

"No, Sir. You have not made that clear yet." Jack smiled at Thor who had stepped up next to him as Missen.

"You see, Thor, after your people went away we sent a ship to survey your home galaxy, to see if you left anything or anyone. What we found was that in your haste to destroy yourselves, your people left a few ships and things lying around."

"Really? I thought we were quite thorough," he responded, thoughtful and wondering what they might have left.

"And usually that is true, old buddy, but I am sure that as your people died, many smaller things fell by the wayside. Anyway, we have repaired what we could and have placed everything in orbit of one of your original planets. Commodore Missen and I are going to escort your people back to the Ida Galaxy where you can begin to reconstitute yourselves." Thor had nothing to say, Jack was sure his head was just swimming now. "The trip should take us a while, so we will have plenty time to go over our plan and spend some time together. Commodore Missen here is being given the job of assisting you in any way he possibly can." Jack stopped there.

"Sir what other assets will I have?"

"Your former ship, the _Normandy,_ will accompany us to Ida along with two RED HORSE battalions and an intergalactic Gate they have in their hold. Once there, I will Gate back to Earth and whatever other needs you have, you can request through normal channels. We'll go over all of that later." Jack finished talking to them and motioned to the comms officer "Is the _Normandy_ ready?"

"Yes, Sir," the comms officer answered as he gave the signal to the _Normandy_ to join them in formation, ready for the hyperdrive window to open.

"Let's get going," Jack said, and with that the _Normandy_ and the _Enterprise_ together opened a hyperspace window and disappeared on their way to new adventures.

Authors Note:

While this is the end of this story, it is not the end of the tale. More stories will come because there are many questions left unanswered. I hope you enjoyed the story. I also wanted to say thank you to my beta reader R0cketScient1st. You did great work and we all appreciate the part you have played in the telling of this story. If you are looking for the next chapters they will be a few weeks in coming. I have new job issues so that will take a majority of my time for the next few months. For those of you who have liked the story more will be coming and those of you who didn't well I will torment you more in the future. Thanks for reading.


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